Soul Drive
by ZeXal2828
Summary: In which a hated teen is killed, and brought into a new world to fulfill some kind of purpose not known to him. What is his goal? What does he have to do? Why was he reborn into a different world? So many questions, and yet, never any answers. Watch as Sol goes through his new life, trying to find a new purpose.
1. Drive 1: Beginning

**Yo. For some, this will be our first meeting. For others, our second. Perhaps third. Perhaps fourth. Who knows?  
**

 **First, to explain the title. White Iaito. An Iaito is a blunt-edged blade used in the Iaido style, which emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to a sudden attack, while sheathing the blade just as quickly. It was shortened to Iai.**

 **Anyway, this Fanfiction is Black Bullet so White Iaito. Bullet = gun. Iaito = sword. White because the main character's sword is white. And cause its the opposite color of black... kind of.  
**

 **So, why am I doing a Fanfiction on Black Bullet?**

 **It is definitely not because I like Lolis, which this is known far and wide for. Definitely not. Lolis are great and all, but I don't necessarily like them. So, as you can see, I definitely did not decide to randomly write this, because I like-**

* * *

Jumping lightly back from a slash, I could only think about one thing: Lolis. Though I shouldn't really be thinking about them in this situation, I just couldn't help myself; some force forced me to think about them, for some random reason only known to it, as though to make an audience laugh, for reasons not known to myself.

Besides, what audience would that be?

In any case, Lolis were cute. You don't have to say anything else - they were simply cute.

B-but anyway, I have to focus! I was in a match, and getting distracted isn't something I normally do!

Shrugging away my thoughts, I faced my opponent, and straightened the hold on my sword.

My right hand was gripping the grip to my Iaito, a blunt-edged sword. My thumb was pressed against its guard, to keep the sword in its scabbard until I decide to strike, or when I find an opening in my opponent's defenses.

When It is time to strike, I gently lift the thumb from the guard, and-

Raising the thumb slightly upwards, I slashed horizontally, knocking my opponent's wooden sword, a Bokken, to the side. I then quickly sheathed my blade after the drawing and drew the blade once more, this time, raising it above my body, and letting it fall down to the ground, slashing vertically at my opponent, from above to down.

I, like last time, sheathed my blade after the action.

Each of the two strikes, took roughly one second of time to complete. At the same time. The first strike was roughly zero point forty-eight milliseconds, while the second that followed up was zero point thirty four milliseconds, a total of zero point eighty two milliseconds.

The Iaido style takes pride in its lightning quick drawing and sheathing of the sword.

The second strike hit against my opponent's left shoulder, causing him to stumble backward and falling onto his butt.

The force was great enough to fracture bones, but at the last second, I slowed the blade, letting it hit him lighter than when I swung it. It cost a few extra milliseconds - for both strikes - but I didn't mind that.

It was better than accidentally breaking a bone, that was for sure.

Sensei, who stood off to the side watching the engagement, nodded at the two of us. I raised from my lowered stance, which was basically just my legs spread apart and arms at my left side, where my sword was located, but it was a stance. The basic stance for the Iaido style that I was taught. My body was turned to the left, so that I strikes came at an angle, just like the Iaito sword I owned.

The blade extended from its guard, going straight up, but then angling backwards. Not so much that I was noticeable, but with a second glance, you would be able to tell it curved slightly.

Keeping my thumb on the guard of my sword, I bowed down to my opponent, who did the same to me. I then turned and faced Sensei, and bowed to him.

He nodded.

"Good match, Sol. At this point, you are more than good enough to take up the Shinken. So, how about it?" He asked with a lopsided grin. He knew my answer, and so did everyone in the room.

"Thank you for the praise, however, I much detest killing, so I'd rather stick to a blunt-edged blade, than an edged one." I answered with an even tone. It was a much practiced answer, one that Sensei already has memorized, since every time he asks me to take up the Shinken, I give the same words.

"Even with a blunt-edged blade, you can still kill if you strike right."

"Yes, you can." I answered him, as he eyed me amusingly. "However, it is up to the wielder to kill or not. With a Shinken, which has an edged blade, killing is unavoidable."

"Mhm." He answered, humming. "When you pick up a sword, it is up to you whether or not you will kill or not. Edged blade or not. It is the same with a gun, or spear, or bow."

"True. However, a blunted-edge makes me feel much better than a sharpened one. It makes me... feel more comfortable."

"That is true." He nodded sagely at my words. "Always trust the gut. If you feel as if the blunted-edge is better for you, then use it rather than the sharpened-edge. The gut is always right."

I gave the old man a bow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go on home now. Someone _has_ to cook for the folks back home, is that right?"

"Haha. Quite." He nodded, letting me go. His smile, however, was one of sadness.

Giving him a wide smile, I walked past him, and made my way to the changing rooms.

I was an amicable fellow, if I do say so myself. I didn't like to kill, though I didn't hate those who killed. It was their choice. My choice, however, will remain the same: I will not kill. I'd rather to use a blunted sword than a sharpened one.

The events that transpired to get me to this point, was something I didn't like to talk about.

Others who talk about me, describe me as someone who always looks to be happy. They say I radiate sunshine and happiness. However, deep inside, I was darkened by events that took place around me. Shaping me to what I am now. They cannot see my darkness, all except Sensei. Which is way I took up the Iaido style. The art of slashing faster than the eye could see, using a sword with a blunt-edge, with the risk of killing mostly gone, I could freely fight those who wished me and others harm.

I wasn't the hero-type of person who will help everyone. I know that I can't save everyone, and even if I tried, I would most likely fail and die in the process. Yes, I tried my best to help others, but I wasn't omnipotent. There was simply no way I could help everyone. I couldn't solve all of their problems, even by taking up the sword.

However, I will help everyone I can. That much will not chance, no matter where I am.

After I finished changing clothes, I looked into the mirror, making sure my outfit was on the right way.

I had gold-orange colored eyes and snow white hair, that fell loosely between my eyes. A small piece of hair, in the shape of a slouched antennae stood up from the top of my head. It was called a cowlick, or an ahoge. I wore a black, short-sleeved shirt, with a white hoodie over it with a black hood. I had on dark blue jeans, white shoes with black on the sides, and on my right hand, was a finger-less black glove. I wear the glove during matches, and outside of it, since It was my dominant hand, which I use to draw my sword.

On my left side, hooked to the belt on my jeans, was a pure white sheathe, containing my sword, Amagumo or Rain Cloud.

It was an Iaito, of course, and it was around thirty inches in length, with the blade being about seventy two of those inches. It had a small, circular guard, with a white grip with small black diamonds going up and down it from the similarly white guard. The pommel was flat. The blade was also white, with a slight curve to it, making the blade go slightly backwards. There was a small gray rippling in the blade at the blunt-edge, running up and down the blade. The kanji for Rain Cloud was designed into the blade, right above the guard.

It was custom ordered, and it belonged to me. It was paid by my Sensei, since I lacked the necessary funds for the sword.

One day, I planned on making a name for this sword, so that the name will be placed into history, along with mine.

A name for a sword which has accomplished nothing, was meaningless. But a sword which has accomplished much, deserved a name, and though this sword was already named, I planned on making it be written into history.

But enough of that - It was something to show, not explain about.

After I finished inspecting my image, making sure everything was in place, I left the dojo and ran home, where I had to cook dinner for my family.

Though I said that, it wasn't like anyone but myself would be there... Maybe I'll bring some leftovers back to Sensei...

As I ran down the sidewalk, I noticed something strange.

Two people, one female, the other male, were angering next to an alleyway. As I neared the two, the male suddenly grabbed the woman, and pulled her into the alleyway.

Blinking, I quickly put two-to-two together, and came to a couple of possibilities: The man was either trying to rape the woman, steal her money, kill her, bring her somewhere, or something else that could be either good or bad.

However...

As the man yelled at the woman, I could see fear in her eyes.

It was definitely something not good.

Nobody else was in the street, and neither was there a car passing by.

Nodding my head, I lowered my stance slightly and ran towards the alleyway.

Coming to a stop near the alley, I took three deep breaths, and then ran around the corner, hand on the grip of my sword, with the thumb pressed down against the guard, I prepared myself.

What I saw, was the man holding a knife to the woman's neck, and forcing her into a wall.

Not knowing exactly what he was doing, I knew it was something bad.

"Stop!" I yelled at him, causing him to slightly flinch at the tone of my words. "Unhand that lady this instinct!" I yelled as if I was some kind of cliche Hero. Truthfully speaking, it was a line I always wanted to say. With a smile, I walked closer to the two, with my guard rising with each step I took.

"Huh? Who are you?" The man said, letting go of the woman.

Smiling wider, I came to a stop about ten feet from the man.

"Me? Just a random passerby carrying a sword."

The man eyed the sword. His face paled slightly after I said I was carrying a sword. It means he didn't notice it earlier. Then it was a wrong move to say that. Now his guard will be higher up and a surprise attack will be much more difficult to achieve.

"A sword?" He slowly repeated the words, as if he never heard them before. He raised his knife. "Obviously I am out of my league here, so how about I go ahead and drop my knife and..."

Just as his grip loosened on the knife, my muscles relaxed subconsciously. At that moment, his grip tightened on the shorter blade and he charged forward.

"An amateur with always be an amateur!" He snarled, a feral grin gracing his lips.

However, I only smiled wider.

Amagumo was a short sword. And so, I had to be close to attack my targets. A knife was even shorter. By letting my muscles relax subconsciously, I allowed the man to think I wasn't very competent with a sword yet, and tricked him into coming closer.

In his head, the simple action of relaxing subconsciously, means that I would be more likely to panic if he were to suddenly attack, as he just did.

However, the reality was very different.

Being one of the best in the Iaido dojo I frequented, I was very skilled in lightning-fast strikes.

And so...

" **Iai Style: Dancing Tiger**!" As he neared me, I shouted those words. I then drew my sword faster than the untrained eye could follow, I made one simple horizontal slash.

The blow landed against his stomach, which made vomit instantly rise to his mouth. However, before he could throw up his lunch, the force of my strike knocked him back and to the ground, his head hitting the ground, knocking him out. I then sheathed the sword faster than could be seen, and dropped my stance.

I then walked over to the now unconscious man, and flipped him over to the side, so he couldn't choke on his vomit.

Standing back up, I addressed the woman without turning to her.

"Well, he won't be able to cause you any trouble now, so-" Just as I was turning around, a hot feeling spread through my back.

Blinking, I stumbled forward slightly as something was stabbed through me. I then turned my head to look behind me, and found the woman that I saved from the man, holding a knife... that was now stuck into my back.

Smirking the woman took out the knife, and stabbed it into my back again.

Blood came out of my mouth and I fell to the ground, landing next to the man. The woman continued to stab my back.

"This. Is. For. Hitting. Him. Unconscious." She said with each stab. My eyes wide, I could do nothing against the attack; my body was already paralyzed with fear and pain. The approaching dread of death stopped the rest of my thoughts.

My eyelids became heavy, and with each stab, I felt my life leave my body, with the memories of my life flashing through my mind, faster than any strike I could ever make with the Iaido style.

"Die!" A final thrust, and it all ended.

My eyes dulled, and life no longer existed in my eyes.

My heart stopped beating, and my brain no longer functioned.

I was dead.

Dead.

The single word would send a shiver down my spine - when I was alive. But since I was dead, and could no longer feel my spine, I didn't feel the familiar feeling of a shiver.

The coldness that came with death was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced with nothingness.

The blood didn't warm me up; this was simply nothing.

It was neither cold nor warm.

It was nothing.

I couldn't see anything, nor hear anything. I had no feeling. It was as if I floated in an abyss of darkness, with nothing around me. A vast space of infinite in all directions. I couldn't move, nor could I think.

Perhaps my soul was transferring to Heaven?

Or wherever souls went to.

But, with death comes life. Though I died, some good can happen, right? Perhaps everyone who was angry at me, would no longer hate me. My life was a hated one, but it was a life. And since most people were too scared to kill, I was only mocked.

Sighing a sigh that was impossible to sigh, I realized that I fell into a trap. Set up to kill me.

Taking advantage of my nature of helping those I see in trouble, I was led into a trap meant to kill me. The woman was the bait, the man was the distraction, and the woman was the real foe.

First they had the streets cleared. Then when they saw me, they acted as if they were fighting, where the woman either feigned fear, or actually felt it. Either way, I saw fear in her eyes; real or imaginary, It didn't matter. Moving on, when I was close enough to hear what they were yelling, the man grabbed the woman into the alleyway next to them. Then he pulled a knife and put it against her neck and waited.

Then I appeared, like the idiot I was.

I confronted the man, while thinking the woman wasn't a threat and just a victim.

The man leered me into a false sense of victory, but letting himself look the part of the idiot and fell to my blade, though he was just knocked out, it still hurt. He had to put up with a lot just for the act to work.

And as I was distracted by the man, making sure he was still breathing and wouldn't choke on his vomit, the woman sneaked up to being me, and stabbed me.

And stabbed.

And stabbed.

And stabbed.

She stabbed until I was dead.

Until I fell to the ground, and could no longer move and perhaps past that.

Maybe she was still stabbing that knife into my body.

Either way, I died.

At the young age of sixteen, hated teen Sol Laren died a tragic death, in which only a few people will be sad of. Sensei was the first who popped into my mind. He always took care of me, ever since my parents died. Or ran away. Either way, they were no longer around to support me.

It was because of him, that I took up the sword. Because of him that I lived through that night. Silently thanking him, I then stopped thinking about anything, letting oblivion come to me.

Whenever that would happen.

And so, I waited.

...

...

...

...

It was then, that a voice spoke to me.

" **Solar Laren. Why did you pick up the Sword? The real reason?** "

"..." The real reason...

Why did Sol Laren, self-proclaimed as someone who will always help someone in need, take up the sword?

Was it to help others?

Was it to kill?

What was it?

Why did such a monster pick up a blunted sword?

"It was..." I started, and stopped, as if searching for the forgotten words. "To protect..." I continued, but stopped. I could feel the voice wanting me to continue to speak, and so I did.

"To protect myself." I finished.

Sol Laren. A sixteen year old boy despised by many. Who only wants to help out others and be of use to society. He took up the sword, not to help others, but to protect himself.

But why was the blade blunted? Why did it have a blunt-edge?

It was, of course, to protect himself from himself.

The sword protected him from others and the bluntness protected him from himself.

He was scared of everyone. Himself included.

Why was he?

The only way to find the answer, is to look upon his forgotten past, a past that should and will be forgotten in time.

Surrounded in flames, the young boy known as Sol Laren, violently and ruthlessly killed his parents. From the witnesses who saw the act being finished, his name was forever put into history as a parent-killer. At the young age of seven, he killed his parents slowly, torturing them to death.

In his mind, he likes to believe that they either died when he was born, or left him.

But he knew the truth he wanted to avoid. He killed his parents. Letting his animal-like instincts out, he killed them slowly and methodically, as if he was slowly crushing an insect.

He used a blunt-edged sword to protect himself from himself.

He used a sword to protect himself against others.

But most importantly, he used a smile and a happy-go-lucky aura to fool himself.

If he ever lets that hideous and destructive aura out again, what would happen?

Who would he kill?

Even with a blunt sword, he didn't know the answer to that.

Even a sword with a blunted-edge can still kill, if used with enough force and skill.

Why did he take up a sword in the first case, if he wanted to avoid killing?

Because of others. The others wanted to kill him - since he was a monster that deserved death.

And at the age of seven, he almost did die. In the flames, Sensei appeared, and took him. He brought him to his own home, and raised him as a Son. The reasons were unknown, however, Sensei saved him from death, and so, he picked up the sword and the style his Sensei taught.

When he was old enough, he moved out of his Sensei's home and into an apartment. Slowly, he would pay back Sensei for all he has done.

However, now... it was impossible.

Sol Laren was dead. And the dead can't fulfill a promise. They can't accomplish deeds. They can't... exist.

And so when the voice said what it said next, Sol was confused and surprised.

" **Would you like to be reborn?** "

The voice asked him, with a slow, yet steady rhythm as it bounced from each word to the next.

" **Starting from the age you died, would you like to continue your life, in a world where you never existed?** "

The voice continued. My eyes, if they were there, would've widened at the offer, before being shut, closed up tight at the prospect of meeting those that killed him again. However, hearing the part where I would continue in a world I didn't exist in, made me open my eyes and stare back at the abyss.

" **A world, though harder and much more difficult than your own world, where you can be free of any crime that has been committed by you yourself?** "

"I..." I said out loud. The thought of being at this world - one where my crimes never existed was alluring. I wanted to go there, to start over. But... Could I? I was a...

" **A world that needs you?** "

That opened my eyes. A white light flashed in front of me, and I saw... images.

Monsters, was all I could describe them. They looked as if they were animals taken monster form. Giant spiders... lizards... sharks... and... was that a dragon? And...

"A world that needs... me?" I repeated. That thought sounded amazing... as if it was taken from a dream of a dream - a secluded spot only reserved for the best. But... was it true? Was I really needed?

" **Make the choice now. Y/N** "

A square box appeared in front of my face, and though I shouldn't be able to see it, I saw it plainly.

On my left, was **YES** and on my right, was **NO**.

Making up a mind, I pressed a finger against the **YES** and the box disappeared.

" **Excellent choice! As you appear in this world, you will be told of its events and classifications, languages, terms, and what-not, so as to not be confused. Of course, you won't know about everything, so you'll have to figure out the world yourself. I wish you luck in this new world. You'll need it.** "

Everything around me froze, and slowly, a white light came into view, swirling all around me. Closing my eyes from the sharp pain that felt like staring into the sun, I felt my body be reconstructed in a different form, and passed through a copying machine. After a few lurches, as if I was in a car and experiencing a lot of stops and bumps, every sensation stopped.

A few seconds later, and my body felt normal. I could feel the cold, hard ground underneath me, and when I opened my eyes, they widened.

Everything was passing by at an incredibly speed.

I saw everything as it happened.

Parents and children walked the streets.

Day turned into night.

Night turned into day.

I then saw the monsters appear - the Gastrea.

Taking the form of different animals, the monsters killed Humans and more Gastrea was created. I saw the Humans fight back, but lose.

I then saw the Humans rising back up, creating Monoliths that kept the Gastrea back, using Varanium.

And then, everything stopped.

* * *

When I opened my eyes next, I was standing in an alley.

With my newfound knowledge, I instantly recognized a few differences. One, was that in my pocket, was a wallet that contained the currency of this world, or rather, this region, was yen.

I was in the Tokyo Area, one of the remaining sanctums left for mankind in this world dominated by Gastrea.

Moving on from that... the alley I stood in was much different than the one I was killed in. Nobody else was in the alley besides myself.

Looking behind me, to see my back, I checked to see if my hoodie was damaged. Finding no stab wounds, I smiled. I really was given a second chance in a different world.

I stared up at the darkening sky. The sun was slowly falling from the sky, and the moon was slowly rising in it.

I should probably go find a place to stay.

Moving out of the alley, I began walking in a random direction.

{ **Later** }

After a few minutes, I came to a stop standing in front of a small apartment complex. Before I went in, however, I reached into my back pocket and took out my wallet. Opening it, I counted the amount of money inside, which came out to be a total of ten, one thousand yen bills, for a total of ten thousand yen. I also found an I.D. with my name and picture on it. Sol Laren. After I checked the wallet for anything else, I put it away and walked into the building.

Walking over to the front desk, I talked to the landlord, and came to a price of one thousand yen a month. Accepting the deal, I took room 203 on the second floor, third door on the right.

Walking up the stairs, and made my way to my new room.

I unlocked the door with the set of keys the man gave me, and took a look over my room. It had a total of three rooms, a room off to the set, which was the bathroom, behind a wooden door, the main room, which held a small table, four cushions around it, and a small T.V. standing on a wooden box. To the opposite side of the bathroom, on my left, was a sliding screen door, which led me to the bedroom. A futon rested on the ground. There wasn't much else in that room. Going back into the main room, I noticed a small cooking area next to the door, which held a small fridge, a stove, and dishwasher. Going into the bathroom, I noticed a washing machine to my right, and through a thin sliding door, which you could barely see through, I saw a small bath, though still big enough to hold at least two people, and off to the side, a sink and toilet. There was a small place left alone so that you could wash your hair and body before going into the bath, with the appropriate bathing equipment lined up on a shack, along with a yellow duck.

Going back into the main room, I took a look outside of the balcony. I saw the city outside of the apartment, and across the balcony, was a clothes line to hang up your clothes to dry.

There was also a closet in the bedroom to put your clothes in, as well as a drawer. That was pretty much everything in the apartment room.

Nodding my head, I sat down on one of the cushions, and stared up at the ceiling.

Gastrea. Monsters with the DNA of animals that nearly wiped out Humanity in 2021, ten years ago. However, before Humanity could fall, several giant Monoliths were built, which kept the Gastrea out, using Varanium which they hated and were weak to.

I was in the Tokyo Area in Japan, where the first Monoliths were built.

That was everything I knew.

It wasn't much, but it was the general knowledge, obviously minus a few things that I have to figure out.

Such as, is there an organization to fight back against the Gastrea? Special abilities and weapons?

As for the weapons, Varanium is the first thing to come to mind to fight with. If the Gastrea is weak to it, then it is the best weapon possible. That being said, my sword, Amagumo, was a blade made of steel, and would be less effective to fight them with. That means, that I have to find some kind of way to reforge it into a Varanium blade, keeping the blunt-edge if at all possible.

However, that was a chore for another day. The sun was going down, so if at all possible, I'd really rather go to sleep.

Moving into the next room, I laid down on the futon, laying the covers over my body. I stared up at the dark ceiling, and closed my eyes.

Before I fell asleep, I heard myself murmur, " _...A new start, huh?_ " I quickly fell asleep, and only the sounds of my dull breathing could be heard.

* * *

The next day, I began my search. First order of business, is to search for a library! I needed to understand more about the history of this new world, about the Gastrea, and any organization that fights them. Learning about Varanium is also a must, in order to upgrade my own blade.

I patted the hilt of the sword lightly with my left hand. I had it strapped around my waist, in my usual spot. If a Gastrea shows up, I'll at least be able to defend myself until he someone shows up to deal with the Gastrea, or I get away.

The idea of the Gastrea deciding to leave me alone, was thrown out of the window, since their only goal was to destroy Humanity.

I walked down the streets, looking from left to right. I was searching for the library.

But after a couple minutes of walking, I decided to ask someone.

*Ahem* I cleared my throat, getting the attention of a Mother and her Daughter walking through the street. "Do you perhaps know where a library is located, do you?" I asked the two.

The Mother blinked, but answered nevertheless. "The Tokyo Metropolitan Library is what you are lookin' for then. If you go down the street over there, and take a..."

After a short explanation of how to get there, a bowed lightly to the two. "Thank you for your help." Bending back up, I took the chance to lightly ruffle up the small girl's hair, and with a smile, walked away with a short wave.

"You have a good day now!" The Mother yelled after me, a smile on her face. Her Daughter was pouting as she fixed her hair.

I chuckled to myself and went about my day.

I followed the instructions given me to a letter. I turned right, walked past a turn, then went left. I continued past three streets, then turned to the right, where I had to walk up a small hill. A right turn resulted from that, and then I took the first left I saw.

I followed her instructions, and yet, I ended up lost anyway.

"Did she say to go right after two or three streets?" I asked myself. "Or was it earlier? Was it left instead of right? Or maybe I had to keep going?"

Needless to say, I wasn't the best at directions.

Sighing, I stopped and leaned against a brick building that appeared to be some kind of apartment.

Where do I go from here?" I whispered, thinking back to my conversation with the Mother. Maybe I should've had her write down the instructions...

Either way, I just had to keep walking. It should be in this area. Hopefully.

With that thought it mind, I continued forward, walking past citizens walking in the opposite direction, children running around, and even a stray cat that stared at me from where it was perched atop of a tree branch.

As I walked, I started to notice that the buildings started to become less taken care of. Cracks ran through the walls, and I saw less people. The people I did see, however, wore more scraggly clothes - either they were homeless, or poor.

Frowning, I walked forward. Rounding a corner, I saw something that widened my eyes.

Three men, were beating up a little girl.

They were stomping on her, and she wasn't trying to do anything against them. I saw one of them spat at her. Mouth slightly agape, I stared at the scene for a few seconds, before I moved.

I surprised myself with that.

I moved without thinking. With no plan in my head, I just rushed forward.

I drew my blade, and slid it back in its sheathe, with a metallic hiss.

With the 'kur-chink' sound made louder due to my force, the men stopped what they were doing, and stared at me.

Blinking, the man in the middle opened his mouth to say something, but he instead collapsed to the ground, spit and vomit coming out of his mouth.

"What the...?" The one on the left, closest to me, said. Moving my eyes to him, I drew my blade for the second time, and in less than a second, I knocked the remaining two guys down to the ground. The sword hissed as I slowly sheathed it.

The drawing was too fast to see, but I made sure they could see me returning it to its sheathe, its scabbard, or _saya_.

Blinking in confusion to the action, the two men then collapsed like the first, though the third one was actually unconscious.

I then moved forward, and grabbed the wrist of the girl, and pulled her away from the downed three men. I picked her up, into a bridal-style hold, and ran away from the scene with her in my arms.

Though I didn't look at her face, I could see the faint blush underneath the blood that spilled down from her head.

Smiling sadly, I rushed away from the area, and to a deserted building, where I placed the girl down, leaning her against a wall. The building was empty, so it was either leaning against the wall, or on the floor.

I sat down in front of her, and moved the hair out of her eyes, looking for any sign of injury.

She had a cut on her forehead. She had some bruises on her arms, and her legs from what I could see. I would check the rest of her, but one, I wasn't a doctor, and two, that wouldn't be proper.

She had light blue eyes, with small pupils, and short, light brown hair, with the side of her hair falling down to her shoulders, just past her ears. She wore a mainly black and white Gothic Lolita style clothing, with a short skirt and short-sleeves, with a pearl-choker with a pink heart attached to it on the front, hanging down in front of her neck. She wore black shoes with white laces tied on it, and a white headband, in the shape of a lunar moon in her hair, with a black flower on the right end of the band.

After I took a few more seconds to make sure she was okay, I smiled. "Are you okay?" I asked.

The girl stared up at my face, resisting the urge to also smile. The edges of her lips quivered up and down. Seeing that, I pictured the girl as a generally energetic girl, with an outgoing personality.

"I'm fine." She said, a smile finally breaking out over her face. "Though, I would've been okay." Her smile changed to a frown.

I blinked. "What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, because of _what_ I am, injuries like that usually heal in the span of a couple of hours."

"What do you mean, 'injuries like that'? Do you mean that you were beaten up multiple times?"

"Yes, but-"

I clicked my tongue. "I knew I should've hit them a few more times, maybe find a way to contact the Police... In fact, I should still be able to do so..."

"S-stop!" She said, grabbing my arm, taking me away from my thoughts. "You don't have to do that!"

"Why? They hurt a little girl - they should be put in jail!"

"They won't."

"What?"

"They won't be put to jail." I titled my head, actually confused. Why wouldn't they be placed in jail for hurting a little girl?

"What do you mean by that?" I asked her.

"I'm a..." She started, but looked away. Motioning her to continue, she closed her eyes. "Cursed Child."

I blinked at the unfamiliar word. I knew what a curse was, and what child meant. But the two together was something I haven't heard before, and by the way she said it, it sounds as if there are more of these 'Cursed Children' walking around. Why were they cursed?

"I don't understand." I said honestly. The girl opened her eyes, and stared at me. She was shaking slightly before I said that, which meant that she was waiting for me to hit her - which meant that Cursed Children are hated and probably beaten at sight. I understood a few things about what being a 'Cursed Child' was, just from hearing her say it, and how she braced herself for me to hit her.

Maybe she thought she was a normal girl, and went to her rescue, only to find out she was a Cursed Child, and then would beat her and leave her alone to die.

However, I knew next to nothing about this world. And so, I couldn't understand why a Cursed Child was hated. In fact, I would also be classified as a Cursed Child, since I killed my own parents. But that is neither here, nor there.

"A Cursed Child..." She barely said above a whisper. "Is a young girl who possess the Gastrea Virus." Gastrea Virus. A term I actually recognized. Basically, to my understanding, was what made the Gastrea. Once the virus reached more than fifty percent in a human, they would turn into a Gastrea.

From what she said, I knew her age and came up with more info than she said.

She was ten years old, since Gastrea first appeared ten years ago. Judging by what she said, a Cursed Child was only female. Since the Gastrea appeared ten years ago, the oldest should only be ten, maybe eleven in the rarest of cases.

"I see. But how does that make you Cursed?" I asked. Either it was that they would turn into a Gastrea, but perhaps there was another reason to it being called that.

"By having this Virus, we possess superhuman abilities." She explained. "It makes us not human... Gastrea. But we can control it, keeping us from becoming Gastrea."

After she said that, her eyes changed to red. "These red eyes, are one of the results from the Gastrea Virus. We are monsters, and treated as such." She finished.

"Monsters, huh?" I echoed. The girl stared at me after I said that, confused.

"Why aren't you-"

"Not yelling at you? Hitting you? Attacking you? Calling you a monster, an abomination? Well, because I'm a monster too." I gave her a thin smile.

"W-what?" She said, not understanding.

"Everyone has a past. A past that defines them of who they are." Though my past does not exist in this world, it is still my past. "And my past... makes me a monster. Maybe even more of a monster than the Cursed Children." I sent her a warm smile, though my eyes did not reflect the warmth.

I then noticed that the bruises on her arms were nearly gone. So, superhuman abilities, huh? Judging from that, then Cursed Children, based on what I see, have the ability to heal much faster than regular humans. They are probably stronger and faster as well.

If I fought a trained Cursed Child, would I win? How strong were they? Was I fast enough to fight them, strong enough?

Shaking my head, I dismissed these thoughts. Why would I have to fight a little girl, superhuman or not?

"Either way, monster or no monster, I could never hurt such a cute girl like yourself."

She blushed at that comment. Pulling her hair upwards to check on her head injury, I saw that the cut was already gone.

I whistled. "Pretty impressive. The wounds are already pretty much gone. Didn't you say it would take only a few hours?" I asked the Cursed Child was clarification.

"I wasn't beaten as much as usual, so it was much faster."

"I see. So you're beaten for long enough that all of your wounds heal in a couple of hours." Clenching my teeth, I tried my hardest not to be overcome by rage. Beating a young girl for such a long time, even if she has superhuman recovery speed, that she would completely heal herself in a couple of hours, is completely unacceptable - even if it was just one punch, it is just too much. They were lucky I didn't know about that, or I may have killed them.

"Um..." Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked down at the young girl. "Are you okay?" She asked, worried about what I was thinking about.

"Oh, yes. I'm fine. Thank you for asking." I gave her a pat on the head. "Anyway, I planned on heading to the library today, but instead, I got lost and met you. I don't really feel like going there now, so I'd rather just head back home... what are you going to do?"

"Me?" She asked, pointing to herself.

"Yeah. Will you be okay by yourself? Do you want to come over to my place for a little while until you're all healed up, or what?"

"..." She was silent. Her gaze dropped down to the ground. I thought I heard her whisper, ' _What do I do..._?' But I dismissed it as my imagination. Then, she suddenly looked up at me, a confidant expression on her face. "I'll go with you." She said. I smiled down at her.

"Very well then." I stood up and held my hand down for her. She grabbed the hand, and I helped pull her up. "Now, before we head there... could you explain to me where we are? I have no idea how to get back from here!" With a smile plastered on my face, the small girl could only sigh.

"Oh, right. I forgot." She looked back up at me. "My name is Sol Laren." I looked at her with an expectant look on my face. She looked away.

"I... don't have a name." She answered, fidgeting slightly.

"Oh, I see..." I stared at her, and looked her up and down, searching for a name to call her by. My eyes stopped on her lunar-like headband. After a few seconds, I grinned. "Then, how about Luna?"

"Luna?"

"Your new name. How do you like it?" Smiling down at her, I waited for her answer. She smiled and blushed at me.

"I like it. Luna, huh? Luna. Luna!" She moved her head from side to side as she said her new name. It looked like flowers were blooming next to her with how happy she was. She must really like having a name.

Looking down, I thought about how hard it must have been to not have a name. I felt like it would be something that labelled you as someone that was nonexistent - with no purpose in life. A name told who you were. Without a name... you were nothing.

Staring down at my own blade, I wondered about my future. Will I prove that my sword should have its name? Or will the blade split into two, failing before it achieved its biggest accomplishment? I didn't know my future, so there was no way to know what would happen.

However, there was one thing I knew: I will stop this abuse towards the Cursed Children, even if I had to sacrifice my life to do so. Perhaps that was my mission here... Or maybe, that was only part of it?

* * *

A few hours later, we arrived at my humble abode. When the two of us entered the apartment complex, we were met by the landlord, who demanded to know who the girl I was with was.

I answered easily, without missing a beat. "Yes, she is my little sister. Luna Laren. See, I had went searching for a place to stay for the two of us, since we just arrived here. So I had to go pick her up earlier today. Luna, say hello to Mr. Freshley."

"H-hello." She bowed politely.

The landlord blinked at the politeness. Then he looked from her to me, then back to her. "You don't share too many features..." He said, but I smiled in response.

"She was adopted. Her Mom was a friend of mine, before she... you know." I stopped smiling and feigned a sad look.

"Oh, right, right. You're right. How rude of me. I'll change the label of the room later. Ms. Luna was it? I'll add her to the registry... just know, that for a child, you will have to pay an additional five-hundred yen."

"I'll make sure to pay you the money at the end of the month." I bowed my head lightly to him. "Now, if you'll excuse us..." He nodded and walked over to the registry, where he marked her name down underneath mine. The two of us walked up the stairs and to my room, which I unlocked, letting her in first.

"This is your home?" She asked, looking around, a big smile on her face.

"Yeah. Sorry if it is too small though."

"It doesn't matter..."

"And sorry if you were offended when I called you my little sister and gave you my last name..." I said quickly, remembering what I had done without her permission.

"It's okay..." She easily answer, hiding her face from me. "Little Sister, huh... I think I can get used to that." Giggling, she slid open the doors to the bedroom.

"Oh, and there is only one futon, so I'll have to buy another one later. Though I have no idea where a store that sell them are..." The last part I muttered, too low for the Cursed Child to hear.

"It's okay. I can sleep with you." That answer left me blushing, but I quickly shook my head to dispel such thoughts. She was ten. I was sixteen. It was just like having a little sister sleep with you... I calmed myself down with that. In fact, she kind of is now my little sister, since she now has my last name, and a first name I gave her...

I should really stop looking for libraries; I feel as if I'll be finding lots of little sisters on my quest to find a library.

"A-anyway," I said, shaking my head. "I'll get dinner ready soon, so just make yourself comfortable."

"'Kay!" She cheered, pumping a fist upwards. She then jumped down on one of the four cushions and waited for dinner to be done.

{ **Later** }

"So, as you can probably tell by our earlier conversation, I'm pretty stupid."

She nodded, not arguing against it. My feelings were slightly hurt, but I ignored them for now.

"I know some things, such as about the Gastrea, the Monoliths, and Varanium. I now know about the Cursed Children. So can you tell me, is there anything else I should know about?"

She nodded. "You should know about the Civil Security Corporation Especially the IISO, or International Initiator Supervising Organization." I tilted my head in confusion. "They assign an Initiator to a Promoter, and team them together to fight the Gastrea."

"I see. So they are the organization protecting Humanity."

"Yes." She answered. "So if you want to upgrade your steel-bladed sword, to a Varanium one, then you should go to them. Of course, you'll need to have a contract with an Initiator in order to have access to Varanium."

"Initiator?"

"A Cursed Child." She said quickly. "You will be known as a Promoter."

"I see. What if I don't have a someone to make a contract with?"

"Then you will be assigned an Initiator that doesn't have a Promoter."

"Hm."

"Of course, if you go there, I am going with you."

"Is that jealously I detect in your voice?"

"N-no, Baka!" She yelled, swinging her fists randomly around. I chuckled at her antics. She coughed, and calmed down. "A-anyway. The Civil Security Corporation is specialized in fighting the Gastrea, so by joining them, you will have to be strong. Um... I'm pretty sure that there is a Ranking given to the pairs, that determine how strong they are. The closer to the number one they are, the more dangerous they are."

"I got it." I said, thinking about what she told me. "Then, the best thing to do, is to join up with one of the corporations, right? Do you know the nearest one to this location?"

"Uhm... I'm pretty sure it was called Morisawa Civil Security Corporation, but they are pretty big, so we probably wouldn't be accepted with them with our lack of skill and accomplishment."

"Then what should we do?"

"..." She didn't answer. It wasn't like we knew how to join them, anyway. Was there a headquarters of some sort that we go to, to apply at? Maybe the best course of action would be to create our own Corporation... The Laren Civil Security Corporation. The Sol Civil Security Corporation. Sighing, I laid down against the floor, staring up at the ceiling. The sun was going down and I was too lazy to go find another futon.

"Since the sun is going down, let's call it a day. You can take the futon, I'll just sleep-"

"No." She denied. "You'll catch a cold, so..."

I am not a criminal. I am not a pervert.

After saying a couple of holy prayers to some God or other, I relented. Luna will not let me sleep on the cold floor, so I'll have to sleep in the futon... with her. At least until I find another futon...

If I knew this was going to happen, I would've asked for a room with two futon in it...

I sighed. Okay. Then, we'll go to the IISO, and sign up to be an Initiator and a Promoter. We'll probably also have to open up our own Corporation, so I should be prepared for that...

If we can't find one to join, that is.

* * *

The next day, we made our way to IISO. It was a pretty big and expensive building, so it was relatively easy to find.

We walked into the building, through its automatically opening sliding doors. I was just a little amazed. Just a little.

Walking over to the front receptionist, I rang the bell. A few seconds later, the woman took her eyes off a computer monitor and stared at me.

"Hello and welcome to IISO." She greeted with a light bow of the head. "How may I help you?"

"Yes, um, I don't know how to ask this, but I would like to become a Promoter?"

Her eyes left mine and glanced at Luna. Then she looked back up at mine.

"Will that be your Initiator standing right next to you?"

"Yes!" Luna answered for me, sticking out her flat chest.

"I see." She looked back at her computer and clicked a few times and typed. "Okay then. There will be a physical test for the Promoter, and then an interview. If you pass you will become a Promoter. As for your Initiator, she will have to receive a shot to make sure she is stable. Of course, you will have to sign up right now..." She passed me a clipboard and pen. "After the shot, she will go through her own physical examination. Once both tests are over, you will officially become a pair. Then, you will have to decide which Organization to join, or create your own. Of course, there is a few of ten thousand yen to create your own."

Thinking about my wallet, I had exactly ten thousand. However, in two weeks, I needed one thousand five-hundred yen to stay at my apartment. And so, if I do decide to make my own Corporation, I'll have to quickly gain some money...

"Okay, then..." I quickly signed my own name, and afterwards, passed the clipboard to Luna, who signed her own name, though much slower, to make sure she doesn't mess up. She passed it back to me, and I checked the name. Finding it good, I gave it to the waiting woman, who read through the names, and typed on her keyboard at the same time.

"Very well then. Sol, please report to..."

And so, I began my tests.

{ **Later** }

The physical exam was nothing special.

They asked what weapon, if there is one, that I was proficient in using, and I showed them my Iaito. They asked about the blunt-edge, but I told them it is my preferred style.

Then, they had me demonstrate some of my skill, against a flying target that constantly moved. It was best described as a kind of drone. I easily hit it from the air, but I didn't break it, much to the surprise of the examiners.

After that, I was forced to do push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and the like, so they can see how strong I am. They measured my body as well, took my height, and weight, some of my blood, and pee, strangely.

They ran through a couple more exercises, but in the end, I think I passed.

I was sent to the interview after that.

They asked me the basic questions, such as, why I wanted to be a Promoter. Why I wanted to fight the Gastrea. Whether or not I'll be a good addition to their numbers. Those kinds of boring things.

When they stopped questioning me, I was sent back to the lobby. A few minutes later, Luna came back. After that, we waited for our results.

After an hour of waiting, we were called to the front desk, and the woman from before told us... That we passed.

Luna celebrated by jumping upwards, but I stayed as calm as I always was.

She then asked what we wanted to do - create our own Organization, or join an existing one. I had enough time to think about it, and in the end, I decided...

"I would like to create my own." I said to her. Luna was slightly surprised, but she quickly agreed with a nod of her head.

"Very well then." She typed a few things into her computer. "What would you like to call it? Where is it located? Number?"

"It will be called, Iaido Civil Security Organization. It is located..."

Of course it was where I lived. Where else would it be? And for number... well, my cell phone was the only choice.

When I appeared in this world, I had discovered a new cell phone on my person. Did I mention that? Probably not. I rarely think about my _own_ cell phone, so it probably slipped my mind.

Of course, she asked for my I.D. and I gave it to her. After that, told me to wait a few moments, and she left the room. When she came back, she gave me back my I.D. card. On it, was a new set of words: Iaido Civil Security Organization. It showed proof that I was apart of the Organization. Nodding my thanks, I left the building and headed on home, where I was forced to negotiate with my landlord.

After a while of arguing, we were granted the room for use of living, and for the location of our newly made Organization.

However the price was bumped up to two thousand yen a month. I really have to make some more money and stat...

After that, the two of us went back to our home, our apartment room, and sat down next to the table.

"Ahhh..." Luna yawned, stretching her limbs. "I'm pretty tired."

"Yeah, me too." I stretched back my arms and my legs under the table. "It was pretty tiring. But we'll have to work hard tomorrow. We have about two weeks until we have to pay the landlord and I have nothing left."

"But at least now we'll be able to get some work and profit!" She said, smiling.

I turned on the T.V. using the remote, and it was showing a picture of a woman. She looked pretty important.

"Hey, Luna. Who is that?" I asked, referring to the woman.

"Hm? Her? She is the leader of the Tokyo Area - Seitenshi."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" I asked.

"Forgot." She stated, lying down on her side. I just sighed.

"Well, whatever. The landlord will get something painted up front, showing that the Iaido Civil Security Organization is located here. That will help us get jobs. Plus, thanks to my handy dandy cell phone, I can get jobs easily."

"Mhmhm."

"She told me that after we take care of a job, that we will get payed by the police, so I should go to them afterwards. If I leave the scene after the job is finished, then more often than not, I will not get payed. They will just argue with me. Or, that is how I see it. They'll 'forget' all about the job, so it will be better to just report the job's completion as soon as possible, so we can get payed."

"Right!" She readily agreed, sitting up. "But don't you think, that even in that situation, that it is possible that we won't get payed?"

"Oh, we will get payed. If we don't... then, I'll just knock a few heads." Luna giggled, and I smiled. "Of course, I'm just kidding."

"Oh, oh!" She said, raising her hand. "How about a bath?"

"A bath? Sounds great~"

"Then, let's take one together!"

"Sure, let's take one toge-" If I went to drink something, I would've spat it out. "W-what!?" I shouted, face red.

"We have to take a bath together or else the bill will increase!"

Oh, yeah... there was that... the whole, the more electricity and water you use, the more you have to pay. Though it isn't a major increase, it was still an increase, which might tip the price to too high to pay... I'll either have to convince the landlord to let me pay the rest the next month, or get kicked out...

What do I do? Take a path with Luna... or after her? You know what? I'll just do the sane choice.

"Sorry, but I think you should take it first, before me..."

"Boo!" Shooing her away, she ran to the bathroom. That reminds me, I should really get some pajamas...

And yes, we have no pajamas. Our clothes will start to stink at this rate...

Then, hopefully tomorrow we get a job, and get enough money for: A futon, clothes for me, clothes for Luna, pajamas for me, and pajamas for Luna.

There is also the case of getting my sword upgraded. It was free for first time use, so currently, my sword was being remade. Though, I asked if they could keep the blade its same white, but they said it would be difficult to keep the original color.

I'm just praying that the blade will still be white when it gets back to me tomorrow...

* * *

 **Hello everyone! So what did you think of that?**

 **Anyway, moving past the amount of hate, I have a surprise! Today is my BIRTHDAY! So, yeah. I'm older now! Yay and all that!**

 **Moving past the boos, now, let me explain this story!**

 **I did it because I like Lolis! Okay, you found me out, so I might as well just admit it! But moving past that, there is a plot! For now, it is just work for the new corporation, however, I will then start in the Anime, and move past it to its original source! What was it? Manga? Light Novel? I'd rather if it was a light novel... Let me look it up real quick!**

 **Okay, then, light novel it is! :D**

 **So, moving past that, the character's goal.**

 **The first part of it was already revealed, though it is more optional. To stop the hate of the Cursed Children. Will he be able to do it? Find out maybe. As for the main reason for why he was brought into this world?**

 **You will find that out in the future!**

 **If you enjoyed this and want to see the continuation, then please follow. If you really loved this series, then favorite. If you want to send me some feedback, drop in a review down below, or PM me**

 **So, for now, goodbye!**


	2. Drive 2: Mask

**Yo! How is it going guys? Me? Great, great. Lets do the review that strangely decided to pop up as I slept!  
**

 **Raygha Raikouga -** _All hail to Loli lovers! You are right on that. Thank you! I will keep going! All the way to Loli Heaven..._

 **Okay, now with that out of the way, I have an announcement!**

 **I have decided to change the title of the story because of a dream! Yes, dreams can change a man. Probably.**

 **So, from White Iaito, I will be changing it to** _Soul Drive: Book_ 1 **. Now, why is it labeled with Book 1? Caused Dream. Anyway, I have thought about it, and having Sol go to different Anime worlds sounded interesting to me. I could care less about others, I just really want to write this XD Except, of course, Raygha... Loli Lovers stick together, or something like that. I don't know.** _  
_

 **Anyway, I won't spoil how or why this will be happening, or what world he will be sent to, but it will be in a kind of apocalyptic kind of world. With monsters. So that narrows it down quite a bit.**

 **Sounds awesome, right?**

 **Now, we now Sol is going to be going, but what about Luna? Will she be going with him? Maybe, maybe not. We'll find out when Book 1 ends. When will it end? I am not at liberty to say that.**

 **In any case, there is a goal, that has already been decided upon, that will complete this "Drive" in this world. What that goal is, I won't spoil. But you'll find out when it happens... probably cause it will be the last chapter! Obviously.**

 **Anyway, let us start now!**

* * *

It was the next day.

When I had woken up, my sword was on the table in the living room. Blinking, I thought about how it could've gotten there... It was a little after 12 P.M. so the only explanation, was that either Luna opened the door for them, since she was already awake and in the bath, or they 'let themselves in'.

Either way, I now had my sword.

Smiling, I gripped the hilt and slid the sword from its pure white scabbard with a slight ' _hissing_ ' sound coming forth. When the blade was removed, I frowned. It had turned black as a result of the Varanium, however it was only the blade that was black. The rest of the sword, which was the guard and down to the pommel, were still white. Sighing, I sheathed the blade and placed it back down onto the table. Luna then left the bath, closing the door with a loud noise.

Looking up, I immediately looked away.

She was wearing only a towel.

"Luna, where are your clothes?" I asked the small girl.

"Drying." She said, pointing towards the balcony. When I glanced over to where she pointed, I saw her underwear hanging, and at their side, her shirt and skirt.

I looked away.

Then I sighed.

"We'll have to quickly make some money today so I can go and buy us some more clothes."

"Oh, okay." She responded, a smile on her face. "I left the bath water in for you!"

"Really? Thanks." That will save some money at least. Wait a moment... She was just taking a bath, and she said she left the bath water she bathed in... I could only blush at what that meant. But I had to... Couldn't waste the amount of money we had... or didn't have for that matter.

Having our own corporation left us with nothing, however, it meant that we would gain more money from our jobs. As in, we'll get it all, instead of dividing it amongst ourselves and our boss.

In any case, it was time to take a ba-

My cellphone started to ring. Looking at high speed, I grabbed the small phone from the table.

"Hello?" I said, right after accepting the call.

"U-uh, hi... I'd like to report a-a possible Gastrea over at... Can you p-please come and deal w-with it?" A nervous voice responded.

Basically, the caller found someone dead and the likely cause was a Gastrea, and I was to go over there to check it out and possibly deal with the Gastrea. Of course, an investigator was called, but since it may or may not, be a Gastrea, they couldn't go in.

Nodding even though he couldn't see it, I responded. "Of course. I'll be over there in a few minutes."

"T-thank you!"

I hung up.

"What was it?" Luna asked, titling her head in confusion.

"Luna..." I said, grinning. "We have our first job."

She was at first surprised, but she quickly got over it and smiled back at me. She quickly went out into the balcony and grabbed her still mostly drying clothes, and slipped them back on. Of course, I looked away when she did so. When she was finished, she joined me at my side.

"Let's go." I said, a small blush still on my face, and opened the door, letting Luna leave first. I left the room, and locked the door behind me. I followed the running Luna across the hall and down the stairs, and out of the apartment complex, while sending the landlord who was playing solitaire on his computer an apologetic smile for the noise we made. "We have a job." I called to him as I left the building. I saw him nod before I turned away.

* * *

It was seventeen minutes later that we arrived on the scene of the crime. Always wanted to say that.

Anyway, we just met up with the investigator called in, a man with a brown beard and no hair on his head. Of course, he had a gun hanging at his side. I let my left hand fall onto my sword, letting my thumb press down against its guard. I had to be on guard, after all. This will be the first time fighting a Gastrea - the first time using a Varanium blade, even though it feels slightly lighter than when I had a steel blade. Even the slimmest difference in weight can be fatal, after all.

"Hm? Your the Promoter?" The man said to be, as he took out a cigarette from his mouth. I frowned at the smoke, but answered nevertheless.

"Yes. My name is Sol Laren, and this is my adopted little sister - Luna Laren." I said, patting Luna's head, in which she smiled to.

"Your just a kid." He said and held up his hand. "I.D. please. For proof you're with the Corporation."

I shrugged and handed him my card.

He read it. "Iaido Civil Security Corporation?" He said, glancing back at me. "Never heard of it." He gave me back the card, and I accepted it from him.

"Of course." I replied with a grin. "We're newly made."

"Hm. Then you better be good with that blade."

"Oh trust me. I am good."

"Hah! Cocky, huh? I like it." He smiled for the first time.

I grinned wider at the comment and then adopted a business face. "Where is the 'body'?" I said.

"Over this way." He said with a serious face. He then led me into the building and up a flight of stairs. He turned on the second floor and started walking towards a room that had three guards with guns out, pointing it at the door. "Right over there." He said.

I nodded. "Give me some room - I'm going in." I said, standing in front of the door. I let the guards take a step back, and then I kicked open the door. The door flew off its hinges, and I rushed in, both hands on my sword. Luna followed right behind me with a serious, yet carefree look on her face.

Inside, I found a giant spider taking the bite out of the corpse of a man, who had black blood all over him.

"Fuck." I said. As I saw it, it was a possible Original Gastrea, infecting a man, who was turning into a Gastrea of his own. I saw web all over the room.

Like a regular spider, its ability was to spin web, and with such quantity too...

Behind me, the investigator started to come in, to see what was happening, but-

"Stop!" I yelled behind me, slashing my sword faster than the eyes could see. All that was heard, was the hissing as I slid it out of its scabbard, and the ' _kur-chank_ ' of the blade being sheathed.

In front of me, some webs fell down to the ground, cut from the wall. They were restricting my path, so I had to cut it down.

The investigator stopped in his tracks, mostly from being amazed at the speed of my draw, but also because I had shouted at him to do so. After a second or two, he walked backwards, out of the room.

Looking back at the Gastrea spider, which has spotted me, I took a step forward. Sword a blur, I cut down some more web. That opened up the path to the Gastrea. However, the Gastrea turned towards the window and jumped out, shooting out web to stick to a building across the street, and retracted, pulling itself towards the building.

"Tch." I ran to the window, cutting down any web in the path, and stared after the spider. "Dammit." Looking back, I saw the infected man start to turn into a Gastrea. "Luna." I said to the girl, who joined my side. "Go after the fleeing Gastrea and try to take it down. I'll deal with this one right here." I shook my head towards the infected man. She nodded and jumped onto the balcony, her Gothic Lolita clothing fluttering lightly in the wind.

She then jumped off the window, and went high into the sky, and landed on the top of the building the Gastrea fled onto.

I then turned towards the Gastrea that was behind me. "Yo." I said cockily. A grin was on my face. With no escape, the Gastrea had to fight me in a relatively small room, though it was big enough for the Gastrea to fit in. My left thumb was on the guard of my sword, while my right hand gripped the sword's hilt. I was ready to draw at any given moment; my eyes watching the Gastrea for any sort of movement.

The Gastrea then roared, and lunged at me, trying to bite me. However, it was in my range and opened itself up to attack. Smiling, I drew my blade, and cleanly sliced through its fangs. The Gastrea roared and reared back.

I, however, was amazed. My attack was just a simple one; it was simply meant to knock back or stun the opponent. However, thanks to the Varanium, the Gastrea's fangs were easily cut in half. Even with a blunt-edge, that was still possible? I guess if it was a Gastrea, then it is. To a Human or Cursed Child, on the other hand, they'll just be injured slightly, maybe a bruise or a broken bone.

But not letting the Gastrea recover, I took a step forward.

" **Iai Style: Triple Draw!** "

In the next moment, the Gastrea was cut into three large pieces. It was killed due to my triple attack.

I drew the blade, and cut the Gastrea in three different areas, decapitating its head, and cutting through its body twice; and thus, leaving it in three pieces.

However, any observer would see this: I drew the blade, slashed three times, and sheathed it. While that is right, it has a small error to it.

I drew three times. The entire attack took a few milliseconds past a second, but I had drew my sword three times, and sheathed it three times, with a total of three attacks. Horizontal, vertical, and diagonal, were the three different cuts I made. Of course, depending on the situation, it would be different cuts. It might all be horizontal. Who was to say what I was going to do when I drew the blade, to the time I sheathed it?

The attack was simply too fast to see all three draws, unless you were trained to the point where you could see such speed. However, the attack left my right arm slightly throbbing from the excursion and the resistance of the Gastrea. But it wasn't a problem.

I quickly left the room.

"How did it go?" The investigator asked me. I took a glance at him before walking away.

"My partner is taking care of the other Gastrea as we speak. I killed the one infected. Oh, before I go..." I said, turning back to him, surprising him. "I'd like my money now."

"A-ah, right..." He said, nervously. "Then, let's talk money..."

I smiled. "We shall."

* * *

I followed after the Gastrea with all my speed, and I was gaining.

Sol told me to go after it, and I will. He told me to take it down, and take it down I will. I will not disappoint him.

Though I probably missed one of his sword techniques in the process, there will be plenty of time to see them later. It's not like he's leaving any time soon, right?

Anyway, I had caught up to the Gastrea.

Thanks to the Gastrea Virus in the Cursed Children, we were much stronger than regular humans, so catching up to the Gastrea was only normal for someone like me.

However, there was something else.

I wasn't exactly trained to fight, like the other Cursed Children employed under the IISO...

Yes, I was strong. I could probably punch through a wall easily. But I didn't know how to fight. So the only thing I could do, was to get up close and personal and strike it until it dies.

That was my plan, at least. It's not like I could do much else, was there?

When I caught up to the Gastrea spider, I grabbed one of its thin legs, and pulled it back, causing it to trip. It fell to the ground of the roof we stood on, but it quickly picked itself back up. But by the time it did so, I had jumped up close to its face with my fist pulled back.

However, sensing an attack, I stopped mine and dropped down to the ground. As I did so, the fangs of the Gastrea passed by overhead.

Blinking in surprise, I let my instincts take over, and I kicked up above, stretching my leg straight upwards. At a perfect right angle, my foot came into contact with the underbelly of the Gastrea, and in a show of strength, the Gastrea was tossed up into the air from the force of a kick, with a small hole in its body and blue blood raining down on me.

I was surprised. This was my first fight, and it was against a Gastrea! And yet I easily took it out... Was I gifted in close combat? Or just really strong?

Either way, I was happy that I won. The Gastrea fell back down and landed on the roof. It was dead, the blue blood spread out from its corpse, making a large puddle. It wasn't moving and its multiple eyes were blank; lifeless.

I then spun around and started to skip back to where Sol was. Wait until he hears about this! I wonder what words of compliments he'll say when I tell him I took out the Gastrea in what kick? He'll be so happy~!

With a blush on my face, I continued on towards my only savior, the only person who ever accepted me for who I was, minus, of course, other Cursed Children I met.

* * *

When Luna made her way back to me, and told me she took out the Gastrea, I patted her head and told her she did a good job. She giggled at that. I then turned towards the investigator and held my hand up.

He sighed. "Fine, fine. Five thousand yen for each of the two Gastrea..." He gave me the money. "I have no idea how you talked me into paying that much, but as long as there are no more casualties, then I guess it's okay..." he grumbled, scratching the side of his head.

I smiled. A total of ten thousand yen. I can buy an acceptable amount of clothes with this and a futon! The rest can be saved, with a small amount going towards the fast food that we will be eating to celebrate our first successful job.

"Wow, really?" Luna said, excited. "Ten thousand yen!?"

"Yup." I said, showing her the money. "What do you think?"

"It's wonderful~! I hope another job comes soon!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Okay, let's go buy us some clothes and another futon-"

"No!" She quickly said.

"Huh?"

"We... we don't need another futon!" She said.

I was speechless.

What could I say to that pouting face, that looked at me with slightly teary dog eyes?

I sighed in acceptance and took her hand. "Let's go..." I mumbled and led her away.

"Yay!" She yelled, throwing up her left hand in victory.

After that, we bought some clothes. More Gothic Lolita styled clothes for Luna, and some regular clothes plus a suit and tie for me.

{ **Later** }

It has been a total of one month since I've been here. Each job we've been given, we accomplished quickly. With each victory stacked up, we slowly went up the ranks.

We started at the low, low rank of 135,000, but after a month, we were sitting at 103,500.

Our IP Ranking was getting higher and higher, and eventually, we will be number one. Of course, that was a long way away...

I also found out that Luna was gifted in close combat. This came from her Model; which was Mantis. So she excels in close combat.

However, to give her more of an edge, though it will be blunt in actuality, I ordered her an Iaito sword and gave it to her to celebrate an entire month of starting our corporation. It costed thirty thousand yen, don't know why, but it _was_ made of Varanium...

Either way, it was just like my own sword, except with a few differences.

It was around 28 inches in length, with the blade being about 26 of that. It had a small guard, though while mine was white, this one was black, that had small white diamonds going up and down the hilt. The pommel was, of course, flat, just like mine, and the blade was pure black, thanks to the Varanium, but while mine had a gray rippling at the blunt-edge, which still kept its color, though becoming a little darker, this one had a dark white rippling next to the blunt-edge. The blade slightly curved backwards, like mine, and it had the kanji for Makaze, Evil Wind, on the blade in the same dark white as the rippling, right above the blade. The scabbard, just like the sword, was pure black, in complete opposite to mine, which was pure white.

Our two swords, Amagumo, Rain Cloud, and Makaze, Evil Wind. Both swords proved to be powerful as it easily cut down the weak Stage I Gastrea we fought.

I also started to teach Luna the Iaido style, but she quickly ate it up, learning everything much faster than me, who was deemed a prodigy in the style thanks to me hard work.

After one instruction, she learned how to hold a sword, though she held it differently than me.

Whereas I had a thumb pressed down on the guard, with my other hand holding the grip, she just had her thumb pressed down on the guard, with her other hand at her side, except for when she prepared to draw her blade.

She did this so she could freely punch if she has to. She also uses kicks to fight as well.

I did teach her the little unarmed combat that I knew, so she incorporated it into her fighting style.

She was much stronger than I was, a true prodigy in the sword.

So when I taught her the four basic techniques I knew, I had her upgrade them. I won't spoil about the changes, but they were more advanced than mine.

As for the Secret technique... I merely let her create her own.

I didn't know what it was, so I was eagerly waiting for the day or night she reveals it.

She has only killed three Gastrea with her new blade, but she easily took them down regardless.

Thanks to the Gastrea Virus, making her Mantis Model, which excelled at close combat, she truly became a prodigy fighting with a sword, or without one. However, I noticed that she was better with a sword, than with her bare fists.

I didn't know, however, that that was only the case because she wanted to be as good as I was with a sword. Plus she had a not-so-secret crush on me.

I could tell she had some kind of feelings, possibly resulting from when I saved her and showed her kindness, where others showed her pain and hatred. It was a cruel kind of love, where she would basically love anyone who had saved her. Though I felt like there was more to it than meets the eye.

Either way, we were currently relaxing in the main room, watching T.V. on our new, bigger T.V. Though it wasn't a plasma screen T.V., it was still pretty good. Some clothes were drying outside on the balcony, so were just really minding our time until we either had to bring the clothes back in, or we were given a job.

Yawning, I watched the screen as a yellow square sponge made some kind of joke to a pink star, which made Luna laugh. The show was funny, but I wasn't someone for comedies. I liked action more.

In any case, it was then that we received a call. Grabbing my cell phone, I answered as I lowered the volume on the T.V. with the remote, shushing Luna at the same time. She closed her mouth and covered it with her hands, but she still giggled as she watched the cartoon.

"Yes, Sol speaking." I answered with bored eyes. I listened to the other voice on the line. "Huh? What do you-" I stopped. "Okay then. We'll be there then." I hung up and placed the phone on the table.

"What is it? A job?" The Gothic Lolita girl asked, eyes raring to go.

"Ah... not exactly, though it's still a job, I guess."

{ **Later** }

"Where are we going?" Luna asked sweetly as she held my right hand.

"Ministry of Defense." I told her paying the hand-holding no amount of attention. Was it embarrassing? A little bit. Was it necessary? Probably not. Did it make her look cute? Yes.

"Ohh. Why?" She asked me with a smile on her face.

"No idea. They didn't give me a reason other than saying to and I quote, 'Report to the Ministry of Defense or face the consequences.'"

"Oh. So they threatened you?"

"It was more like my Boss was calling me in about something. Perhaps something major is happening?" I shrugged my shoulders. It didn't perturb me in any way, but it was always best to report in when asked to. I wouldn't want to get fired. This was technically my first job, and like all first jobs, you want to do a good job.

A few minutes later, and we were being led through the Ministry of Defense to a specific room.

Luna told me about her favorite cartoon to watch, and I pretended to listen, nodding every now and then and agreeing with what she said. When our guide stopped in front of a large wooden door, she looked pretty happy and content.

"Right this way, Iaido Civil Security Agency." The man said, showing the door. After he said that, he walked away. Looking at Luna, I took a step forward and opened the door.

Inside the room, were tons of people - in the chairs, sat men wearing suits. Lined up against the walls and next to the windows, were Promoters and Initiators.

There was one spot open on the table, however, I read the name tag from a distance. The spot belonged to a 'Tendou Civil Security Corporation.'

I scanned the wall, and saw a place at the front of the room that was empty enough to stand at. Since no one was standing in the back of the room, I figured you weren't supposed to stand there. So, with Luna right at my side, I walked down the room.

I then paid attention to some of the whispers I was hearing.

"Look. It's the rookie who made it big in a month."

"You mean the guy who is almost below the 100,00 in ranks? Who got there in only a month?"

"Yeah. Some pairs take little more than a year to get where he is now - and yet he made it there in twelve times the speed of them!"

"A real monster there."

"Monster of Iaido is what he is."

"The Knight."

Smiling, I walked down the room at a nice gait. Seems as if there were some really good rumors about me.

"However..."

"Yeah, it's probably all just his Initiator, right?"

"Probably. I mean, I hear that she is a Model Mantis. So fighting Gastrea up close should be a breeze."

"I'd like to see what he'd do in a long range fight."

"Ha, he'd probably lose."

Okay, the last part pissed me off. Apparently there was some good and some bad rumors about me. Well, whatever. I can handle it. Its not like I handled being called a monster for years now. I rolled my eyes.

Luna suddenly grabbed my left hand. Looking down at her face, I could tell she was mad, but she didn't say anything. If she did, we might get in trouble. Against all of these skilled Initiators and Promoters around me, I didn't think I could win, and she could tell too. Never fight a large group of enemy that you didn't know the strength of. A basic rule of fighting.

You could be stronger than them, but if there are too many, you'll simply get overwhelmed.

Arriving at the end of the room, I leaned against the wall, with Luna leaning against my legs for reasons unknown to me.

A few minutes later, a new pair arrived in the room.

A girl and a guy. I didn't see an Initiator...

As the walked down the room, the girl walking towards the last chair available - I quickly figured out that they were the Tendou Civil Security Corporation because of that - a man with blonde hair, large muscles, and wearing a black scarf over his mouth, walked out in front of them. He carried a rather large sword strapped to his back.

"Oi, oi. What's this?" He said. "Are kids pretendin' to be Civil Officers nowadays? With that last group that arrived, I'm starting to have bad feelings about where this Agency is going. What with letting kids join." I was slightly ticked off at being called a kid, but I ignored it. I kept one eye on what was happening, however.

"If you're going to talk big, at least say your name first." The boy stepped in, trying to sound threatening.

"Huh?" The large man then pulled back his head, and headbutted the boy, knocking him back a few feet, his feet sliding against the ground. He stopped, crouched down on the ground, but otherwise without injury.

"Satomi-kun!" The girl called out, turning to see if he was okay. The now named Satomi placed a hand behind his back, and I could vaguely hear the sound of him gripping a gun.

"Hey, brat. If you're a Promoter, then where's your tool?" The man said, grabbing the hilt of his sword.

"My tool?" Satomi repeated, not understanding.

"Your Initiator." The man clarified. Satomi now understood what he meant. And he was not happy.

"Are you calling Enju a tool?!" I put two-to-two together, and arrived at the conclusion that Enju was his Initiator. Judging by his anger and what he said, he clearly saw this 'Enju' as more than just a tool. He probably shared a similar, if not greater, relationship with his Initiator than with me and Luna.

The man then started to draw his sword in retaliation to what Satomi said, but-

"Stop it, Shougen!" A man in a suit said, without looking at him. The man, Shougen, stopped, surprised.

"Mr. Mikajima!" He said with surprise.

"If you're not going to listen to me, then leave." After a few moments, Shougen dropped his sword and returned back to where he stood before.

"Whatever." He had said in response under his breath, but still loud enough to be heard.

Satomi watched him go back to his spot, before he stood up. The girl nodded at Mikajima, and he returned the nod.

The girl then went to her seat and sat down, with Satomi standing behind her to the left at attention. She then started to whisper something to him, but I couldn't hear from where I stood.

I, however, looked down at Luna. She was... sleeping. Against my legs... How was that even possible!?

A few moments later, and a man walked into the room. He looked across the room, and his gaze stopped at an empty seat I didn't notice. Oose Future Corporation seemed to be the only group absent.

Wait a minute... they didn't prepare a seat for me? That's messed up. Beyond cruel. I had only just noticed it... Well, whatever. We were new, and the table was full anyway.

"We're missing someone." He said. He then sighed. "If anyone wishes to turn down this job, then it'd be better for you to leave now. You cannot turn it down once you've been briefed." He then let a few moments pass, and looked around the room once more. Nodding in satisfaction, he turned around, and stared at the massive monitor behind him. At the same time, I nudged Luna to wake up.

"Wha-?" She sleepily said, opening her eyes. I motioned for her to stay awake, and she did so with all her might.

"Let the briefing begin." He said and bowed towards the monitor.

When the monitor turned on, it revealed a woman and an old guy.

The woman was Seitenshi, but I didn't know who the geezer was. Everyone who was sitting, stood up as fast as they could.

"Greetings, everyone. There are two missions." Seitenshi said. "Your primary mission is to exterminate the Gastrea that infected the Tokyo Area civilian yesterday. Secondly, I want you to return the case inside the Gastrea unharmed. That is all."

A picture of a white case in the shape of a box appeared on the screen, as well as **Reward**.

Underneath that, was a lot of zeros. One billion yen. My eyes nearly turned into yen signs. Luna fully woke up from seeing the large sum. She then started to tug on my pants, getting my attention.

"Lets get the case first!" She whispered not-so-quietly to me. I smiled down at her and patted her head.

"I'll try my best." I told her. She giggled in response and we went back to paying attention to what was happening.

"May I ask what's inside the case?" The girl from before asked, raising her hand.

"Who are you?" Was the response.

"I'm Tendou Kisara of the Tendou Civil Security Agency." She replied.

Seitenshi gasped lightly in surprise, and with her eyes, she looked at the man next to her, even as she started to reply back to Kisara.

"I've heard about you, President Tendou." She then looked back at her. "However, due to the confidentiality of its contents, I cannot disclose that to you."

"The source of infection was just a Model Spider." She said quickly. "If that's all we're up against, then any Promoter could take it down themselves. So why are you asking for the help of these top class Civil Officers? Are its contents so dangerous that it warrants such as extraordinary reward?" She waited for Seitenshi's response to that. Seitenshi responded with her eyes closed.

"That's something you don't need to know." Was her response.

Then, right after those words, a voice started to laugh.

I looked around the room at first, however, from a tug on my pants from Luna, she pointed towards a man wearing a mask that was not there before.

"Who's there?" Seitenshi asked, not knowing where the voice had come from.

"Me." The man said, and my suspicions were confirmed; he was the laughing voice that came out of nowhere. How did he get in here? I was fully on guard.

The two men next to him moved away in surprise, nearly falling down in the process.

The masked man had his legs on the table. Seriously, how did no one notice him? How did _I_ not notice him?

"You're..." Satomi said, surprised. It seems that he knows the guy from somewhere.

The man lightly chuckled and changed the positions of his legs, from being on top of his each, to spread apart. He then stood up like that. It was actually pretty cool...

He took off his hat, and introduced himself to Seitenshi. "I'm Hiruko. Hiruko Kagetane." He then bowed. "I believe this is the first time we've met, my lady, the incompetent head of state." He finished, looking up at her while he was bowing.

Satomi pulled out his gun and pointed it at him, though he didn't fire. Like him, I had a hand on my sword, my thumb pressed against the guard tightly. Luna was the same with her own sword.

"How have you been, Satomi?" Hiruko greeted the boy who was aiming a gun at his face lightly.

"How the Hell did you get in here?!" he yelled.

"Through the front door, of course." he replied. "Though I _did_ have to kill a few pesky flies that were in my way."

I narrowed my eyes at him. I nudged Luna lightly and she took a step to my right, so at any given moment, the two of us could charge in. Luna had a scowl on her face. She didn't like murderers; especially those that wore masks that had a creepy smile painted on them, and yellow eyes that could be seen from the eye holes, which were in the shape of eyebrows.

The mask was creepy. That was all.

"Allow me to introduce you." He then said suddenly, switching the subject. He looked over to his right. "Come, Kohina."

"Yes, Papa." A feminine voice appeared from behind Satomi. A girl with two swords on her back, wearing a short blue dress, that looked a lot like Luna's, ran forward, from Satomi's left. Her arms were outstretched to the side, and she had a carefree smile on her face and red eyes. She hopped up on the long table the masked man stood on, using her arms and giving a cute grunting sound as she climbed on top of the table, instead of jumping onto it.

She sent a curtsy towards Seitenshi. "I'm Hiruko Kohina, ten years old." She greeted. I then noticed that the swords on her back, had blood on them.

"She is my Initiator, and my daughter." Hiruko said.

"Papa, that guy's pointing a gun at us." Kohina said, but before her 'Papa' could say anything, she looked over at us, and my eyes widened. The amount of power she had... "And those two are looking ready to draw their swords..." She trailed off, eyes staring right into mine, and then Luna's. I could feel Luna tense her muscles. Then- "Can I slice them up?" She said, looking from Satomi, to me, to Luna.

"No, no." Hiruko said, looking from Satomi, to me. "Not yet, dear. Be patient."

She then pouted cutely, ruining the blood thirst I was feeling. "Boo. C'mon, Papa..."

"What the Hell do you want?" Satomi growled at the masked man.

"I wanted to announce that I'm entering the race as well. And that we'll be taking the Inheritance of the Seven Stars." He said, looking at the screen. Seitenshi was clearly irritated by him for saying that.

"The Inheritance of the Seven Stars?" Satomi echoed.

"Yes. That's what's inside the case you're looking for. How about we go over the rules?" He said, looking around the room. "Let's see if you lot can claim the Inheritance of the Seven Stars before me. How about we wager your lives?"

After he said that, a sword was stabbed into the ground. The culprit, was Shougen. "Shut the Hell up already!" He yelled. He then pulled back his sword and leaped forward. "I'll cut you in half!" He said, and slashed Hiruko!

However, the sword bounced cleanly off an invisible force field of some kind, and sailed through the air. The sword was easily caught at the hilt by the man's Initiator with one arm. I whistled at the display.

It's not everyday that you can see a little girl catch a giant sword with one hand, after all.

"What the-" Shougen gasped with surprise.

"Isn't that a shame?" Hiruko said, staring right at Shougen.

"Fall back, Shougen!" Mikajima said, pointing a gun at Hiruko.

Then, at the same time, everyone holding a gun, even Satomi, fired their bullets at Hiruko, however, like the giant sword, the bullets hit something before hitting him. By the time they stopped shooting, all the bullets that was fired at him, were levitating in the air.

"A barrier?" I said in surprise, my eyes narrowed. Sensing something bad, I gripped my sword with my right hand, ready to draw. Luna noticed this, and did the same.

"It's a repulsion shield." he explained. "I call it the 'Imaginary Gimmick'."

At the same time, Kohina was poking one of the bullets floating in the air.

"Are you even human?" Satomi said to him.

"Of course I am. However, in order to generate this, I had to replace most of my internal organs with Varanium instruments. Let me introduce myself properly, Satomi." He stood up straight and introduced himself once more.

"I'm formerly of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Eastern Force, 787th Mechanization Special Unit. I'm Hiruko Kagetane of the New Humanity Creation Plan." He finished with sinister yellow eyes peering out of his mask. A shiver traveled down my spine.

"787th of the Anti-Gastrea Special Unit?" Mikajima said, taking a step back. "There's no way that's real..."

"You're free to decide whether or not to believe me." He then laughed evilly.

Satomi recognized what was about to happen, at the same time I did. Satomi, in contrast to me, however, yelled to get down and pushed Kisara down to the ground, with him on top of her.

The bullets that were fired at Hiruko, then shot back at us!

As for the bullets that strayed too close to us, we easily cut them down. We drew once, and then let the blade sing as it danced all around us, never getting in the way of the other, even with the close distance we shared between each other.

Most of the other people in the room, however, was not so lucky. They were shot down, either dead, or injured.

Hiruko laughed again. "Satomi." He said, holding up a box that wasn't there before. "I brought you a present." He then placed the white box with blue spots down onto the table. "Let's go, Kohina." He said to his daughter.

"Right, Papa." She replied.

"Despair, the lot of you. The day of extinction is nigh." The two then tried to jump out of the window, which shattered when the bullets slammed into it, however-

"Not so fast!" I said, and appeared in front of the two. I drew horizontally, and forced them to take a step back. "After what just happened, I'm afraid I cannot allow you to just leave empty handed. I need to return the favor, after all."

The two of them were strong. Even with Luna at my side, they might be a little too much for us to take.

"Hm? Aren't you the one who was..." He said, thinking back onto when he introduced his daughter and she had pointed us out to him. His eyes narrowed. "Hm. Cut him, Kohina."

"Yes, Papa! " She said, a grin appearing on her face as she drew her two blood-stained swords. She leaped at me, but before she could reach, Luna drew.

Her sword sliced through the air faster than mine, however, Kohina easily blocked it, and swatted the sword back. Luna, with her inexperience, nearly let the sword go from her hand.

Kohina laughed, and slashed her other sword at Luna, but Luna deflected the slash with a downward strike. She then sheathed her sword, and slashed vertically. Kohina guarded against the blow, and the two entered a deadlock. Sparks flew from their swords as they were pressed against each other - Kohina's two against Luna's one.

"Why won't you get cut!?" Kohina said, irritated at being unable to cut her down. I turned and faced Hiruko.

With his barrier, I couldn't make a bad move. So, I should just go from my strongest, and see how it goes!

" **Secret Iai Style: Scarlet Rain!** " I yelled. Luna gasped in surprised, and eagerly watched me as I drew my blade at Hiruko.

Hiruko, on the other hand, didn't do anything to deter me from drawing.

I then rushed forward, faster than most eyes could see. I drew my sword, and slashed.

I reappeared on the other side of Hiruko, and slowly, sheathed my sword as it ' _hissed_ '.

However, when it made a 'kur-chunk', Hiruko wasn't injured. In fact, my right arm was bleeding from the shoulder. I had slammed the blunted sword into the force field created by Hiruko. The blade nearly penetrated, but then my muscles gave out against the pressure, and my skin tore from the shoulder, down to my elbow in a strange cracking pattern. It looked like what would happen if you were to hit a window - the cracks that formed. That was my right arm. Thin cracks marked the skin, and blood poured from it. Any more force, and I might've either broken my arm, or tore it off.

"Urgh..." I said, falling to a knee. I had made a single horizontal cut, while sounding basic, it was anything but. It was delivered with nearly all of my strength, so much, in fact, that if it hit an ordinary person, it would cut them in half, causing blood to shoot up into the air into a scarlet rain of blood.

However, the rain of blood that fell, came from me, in this case.

From behind me, I heard Luna shout my name.

"Sol!" She then forced Kohina away but sheathing her sword, letting Kohina fall forward from losing her balance from when their swords touched - the weight that supported her in the front, which was Luna and her sword, Makaze, disappearing suddenly, and so, causing her to stumble forward.

However, Luna didn't capitalize on that, and rushed forward, towards me. Hiruko let her pass him, and she stopped at my side, getting down and holding my arm.

"Are you okay?" She cried out in panic.

"Yeah, I'm f-fine." I said with gritted teeth. I then turned my head to look behind me. I stared at Hiruko. That shield was so much stronger than I thought... Most people would be downed in a single strike from that attack - even Luna. Though I would never use it against her.

Kohina 'tch'd' and turned to face us, but Hiruko stopped her.

"Stop. We must now leave." He said to her. Kohina stopped her advance, and put away her swords. As Hiruko jumped out of the building, Kohina stared back at Luna and me for few more seconds.

"What is your name?" She said, addressing Luna.

Luna looked at her. "Luna." She replied.

Kohina hummed. "Kohina." She said, stating her name. She then turned around and jumped out of the window, following after Hiruko.

After a few after that, Satomi and Kisara stood up.

"Satomi-kun, where did you meet him?" She said with distaste.

"Well..." He started, but the door suddenly opened. A man ran in, panicked about something.

"H-help! The... The President's..."

"Huh?" Kisara muttered. "That's the President of Oose Corporation's Secretary. The one who was absent.

"Th-the President was killed in his house!" He continued yelling, spittle flying from his mouth. "A-and his h-head is missing!"

I realized it right after Satomi. The present Hiruko gave him... it was still sitting on the table. Turning my eyes to look at it, I saw Satomi approach it.

At the bottom of the box, blood seeped out.

Then-

"I'm adding another requirement for this mission. Recover the case before that man." Seitenshi said, angered, though it barely showed in her voice, and not in her face. "If in the wrong hands, its contents could destroy the Monolith barrier, and terminate the entire population of those in the Tokyo Area. The contents are meant to be sealed away." She finished.

After that, the screen went black.

It was a few seconds later, that Luna helped me to stand up.

I was then approached by Satomi, while Kisara hung back, watching us.

"Is your arm okay?" he asked, staring at my right arm. I grabbed it with my left.

"It'll be better. It's not too heavily injured. Just some scratches. A lot of them too..." I winced slightly, and Luna hung onto my legs harder.

Satomi nodded. "I'm Satomi Rentaro." He said, offering his left hand. I let go of my right arm, and accepted with my left hand.

"I'm Sol Laren. This is my adopted little sister, my Initiator, Luna Laren." I said, gesturing towards the small girl that was holding onto my legs.

"I see." Satomi replied. "Behind me is Tendou Kisara. My Initiator, though she isn't here, is Enju Aihara."

I nodded.

"Maybe you would like to meet her another time? I think young Luna could be friends with her."

"Yeah, that would be nice. But for now..." I looked at Luna. She let go of my legs. "I'm going to go over to the hospital and get this patched up. He nodded in understanding.

"Then, see you another time." After that, he walked past me, followed by Kisara, who nodded at me. I returned the nod and watched the two leave.

After that, I let Luna take my right hand. "Come on. We should go too."

"R-right." She said, worry evident in her tone, even as her eyebrows were pulled upward with worry. Then, the two of us made our way to the hospital.

* * *

 **There we go! Now, this chapter was shorter than the last, however, a lot of stuff happened!**

 **What will happen next? Well, if you've seen the Anime or read the light novel or manga, then you might just know!**

 **If you don't know, then just wait patiently until the next chapter comes out!**

 **Anyway, please follow and or favorite if you enjoyed, and leave a review! I really appreciate it! Thanks for reading!**

 **Bye!**


	3. Drive 3: Nightmare

**Yo, your friendly ZeXal is here!  
**

 **Anyway, on to the Reviews!**

 **Raygha Raikouga -** _What? Did that mean the first chapter wasn't that good? Is canon much better? Nah, it doesn't matter. At least you like the story :D Actually, as for why Luna is called Luna, is definitely not because I couldn't think of anything, but the lunar moon-shaped hairband on her head. And Sol is called Sol, because of something else. Yeah. Not because I was thinking about Pokemon Sun or Moon, or because I was bored. His name is Sol for... other reasons... Yeah... Loli fanservice is best fanservice. More action is coming! Possibly._

 **StarGazer (Guest) -** _Thanks. I made another chapter. How is that?_

 **Okay, there we go. Anyway, I'm not going to change much canon-wise, but there will be differences! You'll find out how when it happens. Now, start the chapter!**

 **Edit: I sometimes put last name first, and other times, last name last. For the many characters, however, it is first name first, then last name. Just letting you know. :D**

* * *

When we arrived at the hospital, which took roughly twenty minutes to walk to, I was rushed away and put to treatment. Apparently some of my muscles was messed up from before, so they had to give me some surgery to fix it. After it was done, they wrapped my entire right arm in bandages. They also put a cask around my right hand, because apparently I had fractured my wrist. So, arm-bandaged, I was forced to stay in the hospital per doctor's orders.

So that meant I couldn't leave. In fact, they forced me to stay. So I now had to go through the boredom which was known as the hospital. Laying down on a white blanketed bed, I stared up at the white ceiling, counting its cracks. By the time Luna came in, I was at 4,387 cracks. I might've accidentally counted the same crack one thousand times, but that didn't matter.

"I'm sorry Luna, but I can't play a game with you." I said, turning down her invitation to playing a game.

"But why? You only need one hand!" She argued, pushing the device forward. It was a simple metal 'sphere' that had five buttons on it. The point of the game, is the push the button that lights up. "I'll even hold it for you!"

"No means no." I sighed. "Luna. Why don't you go outside, get a breath of fresh air. Maybe play a game with some kids your age. Have fun. Make friends. Do something. I don't want you to be bored in here with me."

"But I'm not bored when I'm with you!"

"I'm sure you'll have more fun running around. In any case, you're not allowed to yell in a hospital."

"Oh!" She covered her mouth. "Then, I'll just talk quietly."

"I can't hear you with your hand in front of you mouth."

"Sorry." She said, scratching the back of her head.

"Anyway, just go take a stroll or something. I'm sure something fun will happen, plus we'll have something to talk about."

She thought about it for a few seconds, and then nodded. "You're right. I should go do that!" She then mumbled about something that I couldn't catch. Her face had turned slightly red though, so i can roughly guess it was something embarrassing, though what, I didn't know.

"Then, goodbye." I said, waving my left hand.

"Later!" She yelled and ran out of the room. I laid my head down against my pillow.

' _At least the pillow was soft._ ' I thought, thinking of the hospital food I would have to eat later...

* * *

 **Luna POV**

I ran through the street, looking left and right. The reason? I was looking for a park that was in the area.

Turning down a street to my right, I saw that straight ahead of me, was the park. Smiling wider, I ran faster.

I arrived at the park a minute later, and stopped at the entrance. I looked from left to right, looking for any kids and- There! Over to my right, was some kids running around, playing tag.

Deciding to join them, I lightly jogged over to where they were.

When they noticed me, they stopped what they were doing to stare at me.

"U-uhm! C-could you please let me play too?" I asked, lips scrunched up together. There was a total of five other kids; three boys and two girls.

One of the boys looked over at my side. "Why do you have a sword?" He asked, staring curiously at the sheathed blade. I titled my head cutely and smiled. He blinked in response and smiled with a small blush.

"Just ignore it please, okay?" I clasped my hands together and showed a thin smile.

The boys quickly agreed, with the girls hesitating slightly, but in the end, they agreed too.

"So, can I play?" I asked again.

"Uh-huh! We're playing tag, so get ready to run!" The boy then turned around and ran, followed by all the other children, except one of the girls.

"I got you!" The girl said, jumping at me, hands outstretched. I easily hopped backwards, just out of reach.

"Haha!" I giggled cutely. "You'll have to do better than that to catch me!"

I spun around and lightly ran away, going at nearly the same speed as the kids who ran away first. The girl quickly followed after me, but I was always one step ahead of her when she tried to grab me. It went on like that for a few more minutes, until the girl got fed up and jumped at me completely.

In surprise, I stumbled in place, and the girl pushed me from behind. I tripped forward, but managed to catch myself before I hit the ground.

"You're it!" She yelled and ran away from me. Smiling, I chased after her. I mimicked the speed she had, and when I tried to grab her, I let her slip away. It was more of a challenge that way. So, instead of using my overwhelming speed to catch her, I used my head.

I led her through the park, and into a corner at the edge of the park, using the fence to corner her. The girl was surprised when she couldn't go anywhere else, and I was easily able to tag her.

After about thirty more minutes of playing tag, they decided to change up the game to hide-and-seek.

For the first round, I hid along with the others. This time, a boy was the first person who was it.

I hid in a bush, because it wouldn't be normal for a girl my age to hide on the top of a tree. It was seven minutes later, that the boy found me. The next round, I was it. Even as I started to count down from thirty, I knew where they hid; I used my ears to listen to them move around. Of course, when I finished counting, I found each one slowly, to make it look like I didn't know where they were.

It only took five minutes though. I wasn't the best at being patience.

The last game we played, was kick-the-can. The rules were as follows.

1.) One player is it and they have to protect the cans. The rest of the players are kickers.

2.) The kickers have to kick the can. Simple, no?

3.) The game lasts until all of the kickers are tagged.

4.) If a kicker is tagged, another kicker can free them by tagging them back into the game.

So, following those rules, I was the player chosen to protect the can. I waited with my foot on the can, scanning the park grounds. This time, I decided to play fairly and didn't listen to the footsteps of the other children who ran away, hiding somewhere in the park. Of course, they probably hid in bushes or behind a tree to watch me. Then they would either wait until I moved away, or someone would come in to distract me.

I, however, had no intention of losing this game. When the game started, I took off my sword, and laid it down next to the tree behind the can I protected.

After two minutes passed, I decided to 'look around'. Stepping off of the can, I walked to my right. I looked from left to right, looking for the kickers. I immediately spotted movement from a bush to my left.

It seems as if someone was either getting antsy, or they were about to run in. I kept an eye on that location. I turned around, and walked around the tree the can was next to, but I didn't spot anyone. Then, I heard more rustling and the sound of running. Turning back around, I saw one of the kids running from the bush I first saw move. Smiling, I ran to meet him.

As I passed the can, running towards the boy who was running to it, I heard another pair of footsteps. Looking behind me, past the can, I saw another boy, followed by a girl, running with all their might to the can. I quickly calculated the distance, something Sol taught me to do when in a fight, and decided that the double pair of kickers was closer.

I then ran to meet them.

The girl quickly chickened out, or decided do a tactical retreat. She was the same girl that was 'it' when we played tag.

The boy, on the other hand, merely ran faster with a larger smile. He probably thought he could get past me, but that wasn't going to happen.

When he neared me, he jumped to the left, but as I reached for him with my hand, he jumped back to the right. However-

I quickly stopped running, using my right foot to slide against the ground, stopping myself from moving. I then stepped down on the ground with my left foot, and used it to jump forward. The boy was surprised, even as my hand grabbed onto his shoulder. He stumbled sideways from the sudden force and weight, but managed to keep his balance.

"Ah, man!" He mumbled, upset. He started to walk towards the tree, where my sword was leaning against, where we decided was the 'out' zone, but I ignored him. I ran back to get the other boy - the first one to run at the can.

Though he was the first to do so, from where he started to run from was farther away than where the other boy ran from.

It was why he was only halfway to the can now, while the other boy was already the same distance from the can when he was caught.

I quickly ran back to the can, and beyond. Passing the can, I couldn't help but think about the girl who had ran with the boy... I couldn't hear her anymore.

But shaking my head, I focused on what was in front of me, and ran forward.

The boy realized that I was going to catch him, so he tried to turn back and run away, but it was too late. A slapped his back lightly with an open palm and he groaned in defeat.

With two caught, there was only three left. One boy - the leader - and two girls.

I turned back and went over to the can. That was when the girl from before appeared from the other side of the tree, so close to the can, and ran at it, intending to kick it.

Eyes wide with surprise, I mentally face palmed. So that was their plan!

They had five minutes to come up with a strategy before the game started, so it was only natural that they managed to make it this far! But against a Cursed Child like me who had a much higher specs than a regular human? Something like that shouldn't have been possible!

Then I remembered. When she was running towards the can earlier, with the boy, I couldn't hear her footsteps. When we played tag earlier, I couldn't hear them either.

What could this mean...

I picked up the pace towards the can, and, at the same time, we arrived at the can. The girl had already lifted her leg, and I started to stretch my hand towards her.

Then, at the last second, the girl hopped away on her other leg, and tagged the first boy back in, and in surprise, I stumbled past the can, and nearly doing a face plant. The boy then kicked the can and it sailed through the air. I watched as the can fell and hit the ground a couple of meters away.

"Haha! We won!" The boy cheered.

And with that cheer, the other children crowded around the boy who had made the kick.

I bit the insides of my mouth and made clasped my hands tightly, making two fists. I lost? How? No, I saw how, but the question is, how could that have happened?

The girl made no sound as she moved. It was a characteristic shared by individuals of great skill, usually assassins and the like. And it wasn't something like, she was trying really hard not to make noise. Even then, I would be able to hear their dull stepping, since they couldn't completely get rid the sound generated when they move.

No, it would take someone trained to move without making sound. Who could that girl be? But moving past that, I really wanted to win! Sol will be disappointed that I lost against ' _kids_ '! Though I was one too...

"Nice game!" The boy who kicked the can said, slapping a hand down on my shoulder. I immediately got rid of my foul mood and smiled sweetly.

"Yeah! It was really close!" The boy nodded and looked away.

"Anyway, my parents are here, so I'll be going! Bye guys!"

"Bye!" The other children yelled. The boy turned towards his parents and took off.

Then, the other children started to leave as well, as their own parents came to pick them up. It was only me and the girl with the silent steps who were left.

The girl was staring right at me as she walked towards me, her footsteps silent.

She stopped in front of me, and I could see a _look_ in her eyes. It was a look Sol had sometimes - when he was analyzing someone. He did the same thing to that masked guy earlier today, before he fought him, of course. It was when he first appeared, in his chair. I only noticed him, because I wasn't paying that much attention when he started to laugh. So my eyes naturally found him, sitting in that chair. Though I didn't notice when he walked into the room. I was too busy sleeping, probably. It was only because Sol nudged me awake, that I even noticed him - though I think that was before he started to laugh...

Either way, this girl was looking at me with the same set of eyes! What will she do?

She held up her hand. My body tensed.

"I'm Rika!" She... told me her name? "No last name." She explained, misunderstanding my look.

Tilting my head in confusion, I accepted her hand. "Luna Laren." I said.

She nodded in response, humming in thought.

"Are you a..." She started, but stopped. She then shook her head. "No, never mind." Even so, I narrowed my eyes. I knew what she was going to ask. ' _Are you a Cursed Child?_ ' "Anyway, I'm going to go too!"

She spun around, and skipped away, her hair swaying in the wind.

I raised my hand and stared at it. It was red on the palm and fingers. She had held my hand with a strong grip, enough to redden the skin. Her other hand had twitched slightly. She had also pulled my hand closer to her, though it was only a centimeter. Perhaps she was going to throw me over her shoulder? But she decided not to.

Who was she?

* * *

From then on, I took to exploring the Tokyo Area. I had walked from street to street, district to district, with no goal in mind. I was simply looking around.

Sighing, I looked down at my Gothic Lolita clothing. My sword was back in its place, at my waist. I gently held the scabbard with my left hand, the thumb pressed against the guard.

A frown forced its way on my face. ' _What would Sol say about that encounter in the park?_ ' I thought to myself. The sun was going down, and it would be night time soon. Now would be a good time to go back to where he was.

Nodding, I decided on my course of action, and turned around. I walked down the street, with my destination, being the hospital Sol was staying at.

{ **Later** }

It was on my way to the hospital, that I ran into a familiar face.

"Ah! Satomi!" I said, making an 'O' shape with my mouth as I pointed at him. Satomi blinked and stared back at me. Then, his face morphed into that of realization.

"Luna." He said. "Why are you here?"

"Going to the hospital to see Sol." I answered the teen. I titled my head. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, that. Um... I was just..." He looked away, and sighed. He seemed to be pretty tired.

"You seem tired, Satomi..." A new voice spoke up. Both pairs of eyes stared towards the owner - a man who wore a mask. "And good night to you, Ms. Luna." The man greeted, staring at me.

Satomi immediately pulled out his gun and pointed it at the masked man, and I placed my hands on my sword, ready to draw it at any moment. The masked man, Hiruko, pulled out a white bladed gun, pointing it at Satomi, and a black bladed gun, pointing at me. Narrowing my eyes, I prepared for him to shoot. It wouldn't be good to be off-guard when he decided to shoot, after all.

"Could you please put your gun down? And let go of your sword too." He said, first talking to Satomi, then me.

"I refuse!" Satomi spat. I nodded, agreeing with him.

"Then..." He said, at clicked his tongue. He would've snapped his fingers, but he was holding a gun in both of his hands. Then, from behind him, a pair of red eyes walked forward.

With a smile on her face, Kohina appeared from the shadows.

"Kohina, cut off their right arms." Hiruko ordered.

"Yes, Papa." The daughter agreed and jumped forward. At an alarming speed, she appeared right next to us, slashing her two swords down on each of us, intending to cut off our arms. At the same time, we jumped back.

Satomi then pointed his gun at Kohina, and I went back into my previous stance, before jumping back.

"If you move, I might cut off you head." She suggested or threatened. It was hard to tell. She then slashed her swords in the air and leaped forward with a big smile. Satomi shot one bullet from his gun, but Kohina easily slipped past it.

As she neared, I drew and slashed horizontally, but she lightly jumped back so that Makaze just barely missed her. Right before she could go back onto the attack, as I was sheathing my sword, a new girl appeared.

Jumping up into the air, so that the full moon was behind her, a girl wearing a yellow shirt with red pigtails, fell. Kohina stopped in surprise, but quickly got over it, as she jumped up to meet her midair. She slashed both of her swords at her, and the girl kicked down at Kohina.

The swords and the kick met each other, and the two was forced back from the force of the attack.

Kohina landed on the ground, surprised. "I couldn't cut her."

The new girl landed on the ground in a crouch, also surprised, but she looked angry, whereas Kohina wasn't. "I couldn't kick her."

"Oh my." Hiruko said in amazement.

Kohina stared at the new girl before she opened her mouth and- "Hey, pipsqueak. What's your name?"

"How rude! You're just as small as me!" The girl spoke weirdly. She then pulled up her chest, and pointed a thumb at herself. "I'm Enju Aihara, a Model Rabbit Initiator!" She introduced herself.

"Enju. I'll remember that too." She said. The 'too' was probably referring to me from earlier today. "I'm Kohina Hiruko, a Model Mantis." She introduced. "I'm unrivaled in close quarters combat." My eyes narrowed. The same Model as me?

The newly named girl, Enju, looked towards me. "And who are you?"

"Luna Laren. An Initiator, just like you. Model Mantis." After that, I looked back at Kohina, who then spoke to Hiruko.

"I'll leave that rabbit's head for you, so can I cut her-" she then looked at me. "-and her up?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, my foolish daughter? No, you cannot." he answered.

Kohina slouched forward. "I hate you, Papa."

Hiruko looked back towards Satomi, who, still had a gun pointed at his head. "Now, Satomi, let me cut to the chase. I want us to join forces."

"What?" Replied Satomi. I glanced at the Promoter, and he appeared to be confused and slightly angry.

"I have no idea why, but I've taken a liking to you." He explained. "Don't you think the way things are in the Tokyo Area is wrong?"

Satomi gasped in surprise, as he thought about something. I didn't know what, but it made a serious face appear on him.

Then, Hiruko uncovered a brief case, and inside, was a lot of money.

"This is just a small gift." He said. "I've heard that you're sending Enju to school and having her act like a normal girl. Why on Earth would you do that?" At his words, the two were surprised. Of course, I was surprised as well, but I hid it better than them, merely glancing at the two before looking back at the masked man.

"They're the generation that have surpassed homo sapiens. Only those with power like us will survive the Great Extinction. Join me, Satomi Rentaro."

Without missing a beat, Satomi opened fire on the money inside the case. Hitting it a total of three times, he made his answer.

"I should've killed you when we first met."

"Your hard work will only lead to betrayal." In the distance, I could hear police sirens. Hiruko also heard them, as he decided to end the meeting. "Let's call it a day, Satomi. Go visit her at school tomorrow and see what it's really like."

He walked away with Kohina running after him. When she caught up, she turned back and stared at the two of us. My hands still had never left my sword.

The two of us, stared back at her. A few seconds later, and she turned and ran, hurrying after her Papa.

"Her Initiator is strong, Rentaro." Enju said, without turning to look at her Promoter.

"Can you beat her?" He replied to her.

"I don't know." She answered.

"I see." After a few moments, he turned towards me. "What did you think, Luna?" Enju then turned and looked at me as well.

I thought about it for a few seconds. "If we're talking about power, then she has me beat. But in speed, I'm faster than her. Over all, we may be evenly matched, but I fear that she is in the lead since she has more experience fighting than me."

Satomi nodded at what I said. "I could tell." He said, confusing me. "About you being inexperienced." At my look, he explained further. "The way you fought at earlier today and now proved it. You attack with a slight hesitance. You take too long drawing your blade, even if when you attack, the speed was faster than your Promoter, Sol. It's just because your stronger and faster that that is the case. If you two were to fight, I would bet my money on Sol winning; and without a scratch too."

Enju was surprised at this. "Without even a scratch?"

"Yes. The two use the same style of swordsmanship; he probably taught her to use it. So he obviously has enough skill in it to teach her, which means, he has tons and tons more experience than her, with more than enough skill to teach someone the style." He explained. "He can probably read her moves easily, even if they are faster than his own attacks. He'd be able to predict it; though it is just a guess. I don't know if that really is the case."

"No, your right." I said, surprising him. "Though we haven't fought, I can tell that he would be able to counter anything I can do. Though he says that I'm already just as skilled as him..." I looked down. I might be stronger than him. I might be faster than him. But I lack skill and experience. Experience will come with time, but skill will come with practice. By fighting and growing stronger, I will gain skill and experience. Sooner or later, I will surpass him completely, unless, of course, he manages to 'level-up' before then.

Enju walked towards me, stopping right in front of me. "But you're still strong!" she said with excitement. I looked up at her. "To be able to say that your even with someone as strong as Kohina! You're definitely strong! So don't look down, look up with pride!" She slapped her own chest lightly, as she pushed her chest forward and smiled brightly.

I sighed and smiled. "Your right. I was just being an idiot; because once again, I couldn't defeat Kohina..." I shook my head. "I have to get going! I have to go talk to Sol about today!"

Enju nodded, humming. "Yes! Go on and talk to Sol!" Nodding, I ran down the street, towards where the hospital was.

Unknown to me, Enju said one more thing. "Whoever Sol is!"

Satomi sighed, and told Enju who he was. The two then went on home.

* * *

 **Sol POV**

I was roughly and rudely shaken awake. I had closed my eyes sometime after Luna had left, and fell asleep. And when I woke up, I was being shaken. I put two-to-two together, and figured that whoever was shaking me, was the person who woke me up.

So, opening my eyes, I turned to look at whoever was shaking me, and saw Luna looking excited about something. I yawned, which got her attention, so she stopped shaking me.

"What's up Luna?" I asked the girl, sitting up in the hospital bed.

"I had an exciting day, just like you said!" She nearly yelled. I quickly shushed her.

"Talk in your inside voice. You don't want to disturb the other patients."

"Oh!" She covered her mouth, but removed them quickly, ignoring my words mostly. "Well, I just ran into-" I quickly stopped her.

"Start from the beginning. What happened when you left me earlier today?"

"Oh, right!" She nodded at my words. Instead of starting at the end, I had her start at the beginning to better understand what happened. "So, I visited the park and played with some kids! However, there was this one girl!"

"Okay. What about her?"

"W-well... I couldn't hear her footsteps!"

"..." I didn't say anything. Couldn't hear her footsteps? Could she be a...

"I think she might be a Cursed Child." Luna said quickly. "Though I'm not completely sure... Oh! And I also lost in kick-the-can." She leaned away from me, as if because she lost, I was going to get mad.

"Well, it was your first time playing, right?" I said instead. Why get mad over a kid game? Though I never played it, I'm sure I would have done just as well as Luna.

"Well, yes..." She agreed with me. "But after that, I went exploring around town! I found some nice places I'll have you take me to too!"

"..." My money... My hard-earned money is going to disappear soon. I mean, there is some stuff we could still need, but if she asks for something, it'll be hard to say no...

"And on my way here, I ran into Satomi!"

"Oh, that Promoter from earlier today?"

"Yup! We then ran into that masked guy, Hiruko! Forgot his first name."

"It was Kagetane, I believe."

"Yeah, yeah! That was it! And his daughter was there, Kohina... And we fought... Then Enju appeared!"

"Enju?"

"Apparently she's Satomi's Initiator!"

"Was she strong?"

"Yup!" She said cheerfully.

Luna's personality was very outgoing. She was straightforward and very honest to a fault. If she said she was strong, then she was strong.

"How did she fight?"

"With her legs." She replied, curious as to why I was asking.

"Then, she must be a Model Rabbit." I nodded sagely. Luna copied me, but confusion was written all over her face. "Model Rabbit's are strong with their legs. So they can kick really hard and jump really high up."

"Oh, I see!" Luna lightly tapped a fist to an open palm.

"So, what else happened?"

"Well, Hiruko tried to get Satomi to join him, by giving him a lot of cash, but Satomi instead shot the money." I nodded. "Then the police came, so they left. I talked to Satomi for a few minutes, before I left to come here!"

"Well, that all sounded very exciting." I smiled at her. She smiled back. "But now, I kind of want to sleep, so..."

"Right!" She then jumped over to my other side, and lifted up the white blanket. She dug herself inside and curled up next to me. She was to my right, and against my side.

"Why are you sleeping here?" I asked her with blank eyes. Yes, I found it cute to see her sleep next to me... But that gets old (not really) after an entire month of her doing that. Though it was still adorable...

"Well, there isn't much to do at home... and I'm really tired... like, tired enough to not make it back home."

"I bet you just want to sleep next to me..."

"Yup!" She doesn't deny it. I gave out a sigh, which then turned into a yawn.

"Whatever." It doesn't matter whether she sleeps at home, or here. I'm still tired as shit, so I don't really care that much. "Night." I said, and got back under the covers, resting my head on the soft pillow.

Closing my eyes, I quickly went back to sleep. However-

"Hey, Sol..." Luna asked, peeking out of the covers to look at my face.

"Yes, Luna?" I asked her.

"...I have two questions. Enju goes to school... so, can I, uhm..."

"I'll see what I can do to get you to go to school. Next time I see Satomi, I'll ask him where he sends Enju to. I'll try to get you into the same class."

"Really? Thanks!" She hugged onto my tightly.

"The second question?" I gasped out. Her hug was kind of like a bears; full of power.

"Oh! Uhm... why did you decide to give me my name, Luna? I mean, not that I'm ungrateful or anything..."

I stared up at the ceiling. My smile dropped from my face. Luna quickly shook her head.

"If you don't want to tell me, then that's fine..."

I sighed. It's not that I don't _want_ to tell her, but... "Another time, okay? I'll tell you another day."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now go on to sleep..." She said something, but I didn't catch what it was. I slowly closed me eyes...

* * *

 _The same nightmare from before..._

 _I looked around my scenery. It was the same nightmare I've been having every time I've gone to sleep for the past nine years. I sighed. It happened so much that I'm basically immune to it... though that was only on an outside appearance. I no longer shook when I slept, and I didn't sweat all that much. I showed no signs of being in a nightmare._

 _Though I always had a nightmare when I slept, I was still slightly pissed off being woken up. When I slept, it reminds me of who I am,_ what _I am. Yes, it shows me_ that _._

 _Looking forward, I watched as the flames started to spread._

 _It happened because I knocked over some candles, which then caught fire. It wasn't on accident either. It was on purpose. It was what got me caught. I knocked over some candles, which turned into a blazing fire, and alerted the neighbors, who called the Fire Department. In the end, however, they couldn't control the fire, and it destroyed the house. Strangely, the fire never spread from my house._

 _But it was after those candles hit the ground, that_ it _happened. Grabbing a knife, I watched a younger version of me, stab my Father in the chest. He then slid the knife down his body, down to the middle of his stomach. He then pushed Father back, and turned to Mother. She released a cry of fear, and the boy lunged forward, stabbing her in the throat. The woman fell quickly, while the Father was still alive, though only slightly. Mother choked on her blood, and stopped moving._

 _The boy, however, continued to stab her dead body. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab. STAB. STAB. STAB. **STAB. STAB. STAB.**_

 _Watching with bored eyes, I watched how he then turned to Father and repeated it, but this time, more sadistically. I've watched this happen thousands upon thousands of times. I, of course, tried to save my parents, but I never could. It only made it worse, no matter how strong I became.  
_

 _As the house fell apart, the boy finally finished. He then turned towards me._

 _While I have gold-orange eyes, he has red eyes surrounded by a black sclera instead of it being white. He gave a smile that was truly more deranged and sinister than the Cheshire Cat or even the mouth painted on Hiruko's mask. It was the most horrifying smile that could ever be given._

 _A chill went down my spine at seeing it, though I barely reacted. Why would I? It wasn't like it was my first time seeing it, and it has been worse before._

 _Such as, the teeth being covered in blood from biting Mother in the neck._

 _Though that only happened a few times when I tried to stop what was happening, it was definitely sicker than what I was seeing. The smile stretched upwards, from where the mouth is, to the cheeks, and up to the ears. It was disgusting._

 _Blood oozed out of the mouth, but it didn't stop the boy from doing this._

 _The boy had black hair. I didn't always have white hair. It was because of this that my hair changed colors. Though it was much slower than this. In this nightmare, the hair changes a lot quicker, in only a span of three seconds, it would turn white. In reality, however, it took a total of one week for it to change to white, by constantly experiencing this scene within a nightmare._

 _It caused me to stress, and stress, and stress, and **stress**. Faced with a great amount of stress, your hair changes white. It is was Marie Antoinette syndrome, where the hair would turn white._

 _After my hair turned white in the real world, in the nightmare it started to change to white when it was nearing completion._

 _There was just one more part to this dream left..._

 _The neighbors arrived in the now destroyed house, Fire Fighters, Police Officers, and the like._

 _The looked at the scene, and obviously made the connection with the dead parents and the child covered in blood. They yelled at the boy. The hit the boy. Threw things at him. It all ended when the police made it over to him and started to drag him to the police car. By the hair of course._

 _Though, each time I see this scene, it was slightly different. Last time, they just beat the boy to near death and then let the Officers take him away. This time, it was beating him, yelling at him, throwing things at him, and dragging him away by the hair. It wasn't the worse one to happen, though it isn't the best._

 _The best was a simple gunshot through the head, though it wouldn't kill the boy. They never killed him. He was still alive, though barely. Always at the point where he can still be saved._

 _Though it was just a nightmare - it didn't matter if the injuries could cause him death. Or if he died at all. It didn't matter. That was why I never cared about what happens, though it still affects me._

 _Seeing this happen, every day, for the past nine years, has made me immune to it, though that only showed outwardly. It was inward, where all the chaos lay. Inside, I cried. Inside, I shook. Inside, I screamed in agony. I couldn't take it, but I didn't show it. It was my other side; a darker side. What had happened that day to cause this, I'll never know._

 _But one of the worse ways he killed Mother, was what broke me. Was what made me stop showing its effect outwardly. What stopped me from sweating so much. What stopped me from peeing my pants in horror. What stopped me from vomiting. What stopped me from thrashing about in my sleep. What stopped me from screaming._

 _It was watching him bury a knife into Mother's stomach, and pull out a baby girl. A little sister._ My _little sister._

* * *

I woke up the next morning the same way I've done in years. By staring up at the ceiling for a solid minute, letting my pulse return to normal. In that time, I noticed that the ceiling was different, but then...

' _Right, right... Hospital. I was injured, so I was put into a hospital..._ ' I sighed. I had forgotten where I was for a minute. The same thing happened on the first night I slept here, in this world.

The world of the Gastrea, the Varanium. Black Swords and Black Bullets made out of Varanium. And pretty much any other weapon being made out of the strange metal. Clubs, axes, scythes. You name it.

Probably even explosives, though I don't know how that would work...

Either way, I was awake, and something was restricting me from getting up.

Grabbing the blanket, I pulled it up, and smiled at what I saw.

Luna sleeping while she held my right arm. Though it was my right arm that was damaged, it had already healed. Something that had come about from that night, was my surprising ability to heal my wounds much faster than normal human beings, though I found that Cursed Children healed much faster than me.

Luna would've healed this wound in around four hours or so, while I took almost an entire day.

It was probably caused by my blank memory of that night, all those years ago. What happened then, I had no idea. I just knew what had _come_ from it. The killing of my parents. By my own hands... My nightmare.

Sighing, I gently shook Luna.

"Wake up." I said in a small tone, almost a whisper. Luna stirred, and then opened her eyes. She stared blankly at me, and then mumbled something as she rubbed her head against my ribs. "Speak up." I said.

She raised her head and said it again. "G'morning Sol..." she said, and yawned.

"Good morning." I said in kind. "Anyway, can you get off of me? It's time to go home. I have to change into different clothes, and so do you. Plus take a bath. You- _I_ reek." I quickly amended.

"Oh, yeah..." She mumbled, sitting up. "We should go do that!" Her cheer was coming back as she woke up. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sat up in bed. Swinging myself to the left, I got up out of bed.

"Come on." I said to her and she hopped off the bed. We then made our slow, slow way home, where we took a bath, though it wasn't together; I still wasn't comfortable with taking it with her yet, and changed clothes after the bath.

* * *

The government gave us more information about the case we were hunting down. Apparently it contained a catalyst to capable of summoning a Stage Five Gastrea, but not only that, but it fell into the hands of Kagetane Hiruko. We weren't told how, so the only thing that we knew, was that he had it and we had to get it back.

The Government was assembling a search party to go after Hiruko, who fled out into the Unexplored Territory in order to summon the Stage Five Gastrea. I, of course, was part of the team that is being sent there.

If we can't stop him, then the Tokyo Area will definitely perish.

We were being transported via helicopters, and we will be landing by rope, or jumping off, depending on the pair.

For us, we down by using the rope. A nice and slow approach. If we jump off, we might land in the middle of several Stage Four Gastrea, and that would be bad.

"Which way should we go?" Luna asked me, holding onto her sword. I told her before we went down, to always be ready to fight. You never know what might pop up out of the shadows.

Looking around in all directions, I stared into the darkness surrounding us. I quickly turned on our flashlight, and peered past the trees. After a few moments of looking, I decided on a course of action.

"We'll go that way." I said, pointing to out left. She nodded in response, and followed after me. The trek was one filled with silence. Of course, we made sound, but we never talked. Luna followed after me, from behind and to my left. She constantly checked behind us to make sure nothing was there. We walked through the dark woods, never knowing what to expect. It was filled with Gastrea and old ruins, so you didn't know what you would see upon turning a corner; trees, ruins, or Gastrea. Maybe you'll find another pair. Or perhaps you'll just die, not knowing what you saw.

We turned to our right, and saw a Gastrea. Well, it as going to happen eventually...

"A Stage Two!" Luna noted. The Gastrea was bigger than the Stage One's we fought, though not by much. It was another spider Gastrea.

When it noticed us, we drew our swords at the same time, and cut the Gastrea into four; cutting it half with each blade.

The Gastrea fell down, dead.

"Wasn't that much stronger." I noted. "Though I'm sure a Stage Three or Four is much stronger than this. It'll much harder facing one of those, so we should just run from Gastrea from here on out. You never know when you might need all your strength to fight, so taking forever fighting Gastrea will just wear us out."

Luna agreed with a nod.

From what I could see, and analyze based on data, we were around the level of a Stage Three to Stage Four Gastrea. Of course, this may be wrong, but, for now, we should avoid those definitely. If we think we can easily take on a Stage Four, we might end up dead. Of course, something like a Stage One might kill us, if there are too many.

Either way, we continued on, though this time, we avoided and ran away from the Gastrea we found.

{ **Later** }

As we ran from a Gastrea, we arrived at the bottom of a cliff. The Gastrea that was chasing us, had already lost us, so we decided to take a breather for a few minutes. Lying against a boulder, I stared up at the stares. Luna sat on the top of the same boulder.

We weren't talking; just staring up at the stars. We were relaxing, basically. Though I was trying to figure out where Hiruko might be hiding at, I really didn't know the layout of this forest. He could be in some ruins, or in the forest. He might even actually be close to the Monolith. Who knows?

But it was as we were staring up at the stars, that a pair came upon us. Literally.

They came from the sky; falling down from the top of the cliff. From what I could see and hear, a Gastrea was chasing them and they jumped off the cliff. They used the trees on the way down to break their fall, so they landed pretty okay.

Staring at the two, I realized that the Promoter was Satomi, so the girl next to him, who was making a 'V' with her fingers, was his Initiator.

"Hey." I said, calling out to the pair. Satomi spun around and pointed his gun at me, and his Initiator prepared to leap forward. Luna jumped down from the boulder and placed both hands on her sword, ready to draw. After a few seconds, Satomi relaxed, seeing that it was me.

"Sorry." He said, putting away his gun.

"No, no. It's alright. I mean, I did talk out of nowhere, so it is acceptable to be like that." Satomi shrugged in response. "So, power in numbers?" I asked with a loose smile.

Satomi made a noise and nodded. "I'm planning on going over that way; I saw a small house not too far from here when we jumped."

I nodded at the plan. "Then, let's go." I stood up and the four of us started to walk in the direction Satomi indicated. Luna kept her left hand on her sword, however.

After a while, I decided to ask: "So, this is your Initiator?"

"Yeah. Her name is Enju Aihara." Satomi responded without looking back at me. The girl in question turned to look over her shoulder. Satomi noticed, and decided to introduce her to me. "This is Sol Laren. He is the Promoter of Luna." He indicated the Gothic Lolita dressed girl, who just smiled towards Enju when she looked at her.

"Nice to meet you." I offered a friendly smile. Enju frowned slightly, but responded with a big smile.

"And I you." She said. I blinked in surprise of the way she talked, but shrugged.

{ **Later** }

When we approached the small house, we crept through the bushes, hiding behind them. Satomi made a hand gesture, and he ran forward, stopping at the right of the entrance. I stopped at the left. Luna went around the building to the left and Enju the same to the right. Satomi made another hand gesture, and I rushed in, followed by him. I went over to the left, with both hands on my sword, while Satomi stood at the doorway.

"Don't move!" He shouted, pointing his gun forward. A gun was pointed at him in response. It was one of the Initiators who was pointing a gun at him.

Satomi lowered his gun, and I let go of my sword.

"You're..." Satomi said, recognizing her from somewhere. Then, all of a sudden, Enju jumped through the open window, intending to kick the back of her head. Luna jumped out of the window she stood at, but didn't attack.

"Wait, Enju!" Satomi yelled. Enju stopped mere inches from the back of the girl's head. She blinked a few times in surprise. "She's not an enemy." Satomi clarified.

Enju lowered her lead, with a 'huh?' and stared at the girl who then lowered her gun. Satomi approached the girl. "Do you remember me?" He asked her gently.

"Of course I do." She replied in a monotone voice.

"Wait, wait!" Enju shouted, with arms raised. "I don't know this woman! I want an explanation!"

"She's an Initiator partnered with a Promoter named Ikuma Shougen." At his words, I remembered the guy who had the big sword and the girl who caught it when he attacked Hiruko. So this is the same girl then... I stared at the same girl. Luna quickly noticed this, and frowned at the girl, thinking about something.

"I'm Senju Kayo." She introduced giving a small bow of the head. "Nice to meet you." It was then that I noticed blood going down her right arm.

"Satomi!" I yelled. "She's bleeding!"

"What?" He then turned back to her and looked at her more closely. "You're right..." He said, kneeling down at inspecting her right arm.

"Luna, Enju. Go outside and stand guard; can you do that?" I asked the two.

Luna nodded without a change in her expression, but Enju frowned. "Why should I have to-" She started to say, but Satomi shot her a look. "Okay, okay..." She corrected and left the small building with Luna with her hands behind her head, saying something about 'not accepting that woman', though I mostly ignored her as me and Satomi patched up her arm, by wrapping it with some bandages.

"Geez, why did Enju get so mad?" Satomi mumbled, referring to how Enju left the building. He mumbled something else, but I didn't catch it.

"I think the reason is as clear as day." Kayo replied. Satomi then sat up, having finished wrapping her arm. I had checked her wound and cleaned it, while Satomi finished by wrapping it up. "Do you think I'm strange?" She said, staring at Satomi and then me.

"Oh, well..." Satomi stumbled, not knowing what to say. I only frowned at her words. There was no reason for her to say something like that...

"I'm a Model Dolphin Initiator." She continued. "I have a higher IQ and better memory than most others." I nodded in response to that. Now it made more sense; for some reason, people found others that have a much better memory and higher IQ as strange.

Satomi frowned in response, however. "So Shougen's the vanguard while the smart one is the rear guard? Pretty unusual."

"Well, Satomi." I responded, getting the attention of the two. "If Shougen is strong and at the front, then Kayo, will have less to deal with. She can instead, focus on strategies, such as, telling Shougen what to do in a fight, instead of just swinging wildly. Such as, telling him to cut down pillars to collapse a floor to deal with the enemy, instead of fighting them straight out. Is it something like that?" I asked Kayo.

"Shougen is all muscle, right down to his brain. And on top of that, he's too stingy to be backup. Does that answer your question?" She finished, staring at me with blank eyes.

I nodded in response. Stingy to be backup? It's something I can actually relate to. I'd rather be in the front, dishing out damage to the enemy, than be in the back.

"Can I see your gun?" Satomi asked the smaller girl.

"What if I say no?" She said, looking at her gun.

"It's fine. Not like I saved you or anything." He replied. She stared at him for a few seconds, before she handed him her gun. While he started to inspect it, she continued to talk. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that doing something for the sake of something in return isn't a good deed."

A bullet casing fell out of the gun. I didn't know much about guns, so I just let Satomi do the talking.

"Why'd you use explosives in the forest?" He said with a low voice. How did he know she used explosives? Was it the bullet casing that fell out? I didn't know... I was just a sword-freak...

"It was a trap..." She responded, eyes going even blanker than usual, as if she was seeing it happen all over again. "We saw a patter of flashing lights deep in the forest. We thought they were fellow Civil Officers, but when we got closer..." She trailed off.

I finished it for her. "It was a Gastrea; probably a Stage Four, am I correct?" She nodded.

"I fired a high-explosive shell without thinking. The Gastrea then attacked us, and I was separated from Shougen."

"Did the Gastrea inject any fluid into you?" Satomi asked, concerned about her injury.

"From what I could see..." I spoke up, getting their attention. "A small amount was injected. Not much, just a tiny bit. It probably doesn't matter right now. If Kayo doesn't fight more Gastrea, then she should be alright in not turning into a Gastrea herself."

She nodded at what I said. "There's been no increase in the corrosion rate, so you don't have to worry about me turning into a Gastrea." She said, smiling up at the two of us.

Satomi and I shared a look. "Look, when we get back, make sure you get tested."

"You're... worried about me?" She asked, not completely understanding why Satomi would say that.

"Why shouldn't we be worried?" I asked. "Here you are; a cute little girl who has an injury. Who wouldn't be worried?" I smiled at her look.

"I'm a little envious of Enju... and Luna." She replied instead, hugging her legs even tighter. "They've never killed anyone before, right? I can tell by looking into their eyes."

She was right, to my knowledge. Enju was a little too happy and go-lucky, so her killing someone before is not possible. Luna, on the other hand, was much harder to tell, but you can see purity still in her eyes. The two Initiators had never killed a human before, that much, was definitely true.

"Have you?" Satomi asked.

"Yes. On our way here, I killed a pair that we ran into." I widened my eyes in surprise. Kayo was someone who always spoke with a monotone voice, and with blank eyes. She portrayed herself as someone with little to no feelings. However, with that statement, I can tell. She has just been holding in her feelings, so that they wouldn't get in the way. In the end, she was just a ten year old girl.

"Why would you do that?" Satomi asked her.

"Because Shougen told me to. He didn't want anyone else to get the reward for killing that masked man. I was scared. My hands were shaking, but that was all. I'm sure I'll get used to it."

"Don't give me that shit!" Satomi shouted with an angry and bitter expression. I nodded, agreeing with what he had said. It wasn't good to get used to killing. Only someone who has killed before, can say something like that and truly understand it. "The scariest part about killing people is getting used to it! Killing someone and realizing you won't be punished... That's when people forget all about punishment!" He yelled at her.

"Are you able to say that because you've killed someone before?" Kayo immediately asked. At Satomi's expression, she was correct. It was something I already figured out by what he was saying. Someone who has never killed before, wouldn't be so upset about someone getting used to it.

"You have very mysterious eyes, Satomi." Kayo continued. "I'm sure you have a very complicated past. You're so kind, yet you have such a scary face." She then turned towards me. "Have you killed anyone?"

Though why she asked me, I didn't know. Possibly it was because she saw something in my facial expressions. Possibly in my eyes, or a twitch. Either way, I sighed in response.

"Yes." I said, looking away with almost closed eyes. "Three people."

Satomi looked at me, surprised by this new information. Kayo continued to stare at me with unblinking, blank eyes.

"Your eyes..." She started, but stopped, thinking about something. Then, she looked back at me. "They are very empty. Even when you smile. It is as if you don't believe what you are saying; what you are feeling. But... I can see something else in them; something dark and much unlike the character you portray yourself as. Who are you?" She waited for my answer.

"I'm Sol Laren. Promoter to-"

"No. What I mean, is who are _you_ really? Who are you trying to fool with your attitude, your personality? Who are you inside of yourself? What are you really?"

I didn't answer. Red eyes, almost like the Cursed Children, stared back at Kayo. Eyes full of hate and pain, death and destruction. However, it was covered by eyes of gold-orange.

However, regardless to this, Kayo gasped. Her eyes slightly widened, she opened her mouth to say something, when-

"HEY!" A voice from a walkie talkie sounded out. "If you're alive, say somethin'!" Kayo hurried over to the device and grabbed it.

"I'm glad you're safe, Shougen." She said.

"Kayo, I've got good news! I found that masked bastard!" He then explained the location, which was in a kind-of abandoned city near water. After that, his voice cut out.

Staring at the back of Kayo's head, I wondered what she was going to say before. I felt a dull pain in my right eye. I raised my hand towards it, pressing the hand against the eye. When I removed the hand, I saw a small amount of blood on it. I turned away from the two, and slid my sword of its scabbard and used to blade to see my reflection.

The lighting was bad, and because the blade was mostly black, it was hard to see what I wanted. However, I quickly found a spot that worked and stared at the image of my right eye. There was some blood coming from below the eye, as if I was crying. I quickly wiped away the blood, and when I stared back at my reflection, I saw something horrifying.

A red eye reflected in the blade.

{ **Later** }

"So you're really going?" Satomi asked Kayo, as the five of us walked down a hill.

"Despite his behavior, he's still my partner." She argued. "What about you, Satomi-san?"

"There are ten other pairs attacking alongside you, right? I want to see how the fight ends."

She nodded in response. "What about you, Sol-san?"

"Me? Well... probably the same thing. I mean, the objective is to killed Kagetane Hiruko and to take back the case, so..." I shrugged. What else would I do in a Gastrea infected forest? Play with them? Kayo stared at me for a few seconds, before looking over to her right.

"Do you know what that is?" She asked, looking towards what appeared to be a large tower in the darkness.

Seeing as I had no idea what it was, I let Satomi answer.

"Heaven's Ladder?" He asked in clarification.

"It's an example of a weapon of mass destruction." She replied. I narrowed my eyes slightly upon hearing this. "A symbol of the Stolen Generation's hatred. This generation... Is this really a wholesome attempt at revival?"

After she said that, we came to a stop at the edge of a cliff. Looking down from it, we could see an abandoned city. A ruin of its former self. Beyond that, was an ocean.

"That's where Kagetane is..." Satomi said under his breath. I nodded at what he said, and looked around.

"We could probably go down from over there." I said, pointing towards where what appeared to be a path leading down was. He nodded in response.

"Rentaro..." Enju called out his name.

"We're heading over there too." he replied, looking down at the small girl.

"I'll stay behind." Kayo replied. "If someone doesn't hold them off here-win or lose-we'll all die. Don't worry." She said, looking at us. "If anything happens, I'll run. Please take care of Shougen."

"No." I said, stopping them. Kayo looked at me surprised. "I'm not just going to let you stay behind by yourself. I'm staying too. So, Luna, I want you to-"

"I'm staying with you!" She immediately said. I took one look at her expression, and sighed.

"Fine." I said with a smile.

"Why?" Kayo said, not understanding. "Why are you staying behind with me? Didn't you want to complete the objective?"

"Well, yes. But, like you said, if the Gastrea makes it pass here, then we'll all die. So, the more who stay behind, the higher the change we'll get out of here alive. What if you were to die before killing all the Gastrea? Then we would all die anyway, so it would have been for naught that you stayed behind. Plus your injured. How can I leave such a cute girl behind in her time of need?"

I got into stance. Luna copied my action.

"So, Kayo. Let the two of us take vanguard." I gave her a wink. "Satomi. Enju. Give that masked bastard a nice punch to the face for me."

Satomi chuckled. "I'll give him three; one for you, Luna, and Kayo." I smiled at my fellow Promoter and his Initiator, who showed the same, if not, greater confidence than him.

"And I'll kick that Kohina a few times for you, Luna." She said, placing a hand on her chest, which she had pushed forward.

"You better." Luna said with a smile.

Though Kayo still couldn't wrap her head to why the two of us would stay, Satomi and Enju already started to flee, heading towards where Hiruko was. Interrupting her inner thoughts, I ran forward.

"Let's go, Luna. Kayo!" I shouted.

"Yes!" Luna said, running forward with me.

"...Right." Kayo cocked her gun, and began firing at the Gastrea hiding beyond the trees.

A gator Gastrea came out of the tree line, but it was immediately shot in the face. I then drew my blade, and it was split into two.

"Push them away, Luna!" I called out to my Initiator. "Give us support!" I called back to Kayo.

"Right!" The two said at the same time, though with different levels of volume. Whereas Luna was louder and easier to hear, Kayo was more withheld and quiet.

Shrugging at their differences, I drew and cut down another Stage One. Instead of sheathing, I continued my action.

" **Iai Style: Dragon Reign!** " I shouted, and slashed a total of ten times, within one second.

With that, ten Gastrea that surrounded me fell quickly. With one draw, you slash ten times with this technique. It was used to attack at high speeds with a powerful singular foe, or multiple weak enemies around you.

Narrowing my eyes, I sheathed my blade and jumped over a Spider Gastrea that tried to bite me from behind. Landing on its back, I drew and plunged the Varanium blade into the back of its head.

I then jumped off and cut down a Moth Gastrea from the sky, before landing on the ground, sheathing my blade. Both attacks were delivered in the same action; as in, the same draw. It didn't have a name, it was just a regular attack. It wasn't like I always had to sheathe my blade.

Running into the woods, I led the Gastrea attacking me away. Luna did the same, with Kayo right behind her, shooting back at the Gastrea chasing after the three of us. I jumped up into the air, spinning around three-sixty degrees.

Nodding, I continued on. All the Gastrea in this area were coming towards us, after all.

We then appeared in an open area, littered with boulders sticking out of the ground.

"We fight here!" I yelled towards the two Cursed Children behind me. I couldn't hear their response, as I leaped forward, cutting down a Fish Gastrea of some type.

Without sheathing my blade, I attacked the surrounding Gastrea. I didn't have time to sheathe it properly, after all.

Luna followed my lead, and kept her blade out. She cut down Gastrea from Stage One to Two with one hit, but the few Stage Three that appeared were much harder.

Jumping back from one particular Stage Three, a Gorilla, I sheathed my blade.

" **Iai Style: Falling Clover!** " I drew my blade to the sky, and slashed downward. With the power behind the blade sword, it gave the illusion that it was coming from above the enemy. Case-in point, the Gorilla Stage Three Gastrea looked slightly up when it saw the blade coming.

It was too slow to stop it, however, and it was cut cleanly in half.

Breathing heavily, I turned towards Luna to see how she was doing, even as I killed a Stage One as I slashed to clean the blood off my blade.

She jumped on top of one of the boulders, and then using it as a launch pad of some sort, she jumped high up into the air. Her target was a flying Moth Gastrea. With barely any wasted movement, she dodged a jab from one of the Gastrea's legs, and slashed it in half horizontally. She then used its upper body to launch herself back down to the ground, where she landed on the top of a Stage Two Gastrea's head, that was behind Kayo, before plunging her right hand into its head, killing it instantly. She then did a back flip off of the Gastrea, and cut down a Gastrea in front of Kayo.

"Thanks." Kayo said with no expression, before shooting past Luna, riddling three Gastrea with bullets. Luna smiled, and rushed back into the fray, with Kayo following after her, as more Gastrea emerged from the forest. The middle of the clearing was becoming the safest place as we were surrounded.

Scanning the air, I didn't see anymore flying Gastrea. Kayo was mostly firing up into the air to shoot them down, so they must've been taken care of already.

The three of us joined up with one another in the middle of the clearing, the Gastrea all around us.

"Luna!" I said. "Kill them!"

Luna smiled and sheathed her blade. " **Iai Style: Dragon Rage Reign!** "

She drew her blade and slashed twenty times, killing twenty Gastrea. Like my attack, she did it all with only one draw. She quickly sheathed her blade.

In front of me, was a Stage Four Gastrea. Releasing a short breath, I ran towards it. The Mantis Gastrea ran at me, its arm-blade things slashing through the air to meet me.

I ducked under one, and blocked the other with my own blade. I then yelled for Kayo to provide cover fire, even as I jumped back.

She immediately changed targets and shot at the face of the Gastrea, which distracted it. I took the chance and ran back to it, sheathing and drawing my blade in one fluid motion that could only be achieved by practicing the style for years.

" **Iai Style: Dancing Tiger!** "

I slashed diagonally and the Gastrea reared back in pain.

"Tch. Not deep enough, huh?" The Gastrea took a swipe at me, but I met it with my blade.

" **Secret Iai Style: Scarlet Rain!** "

I ran forward, and slashed horizontally. I stopped behind the Gastrea, and slowly slid my blade back into its scabbard. The Gastrea turned towards me, and slashed its right blade at me, but-

Just as I finished sheathing the blade, it making a 'kur-clanking' sound, the Gastrea was cut into half. I then did a back flip, dodging a Stage One Gastrea boar, and Kayo shot it down before I landed back on the ground. I skipped backwards, and came back to the three in the middle.

So a Stage Four Gastrea can survive being shot in the eyes, and Dancing Tiger. Scarlet Rain, which takes a great deal of stamina and strength, seems to be the only thing I can do in order to kill it. Without using it, it might take several attacks to end it, but I may be damaged greatly as a result. With their strength, one hit might kill me, depending on where it lands.

Luna charged forward after that, with another one of her Dragon Rage Reigns, and quickly cut through twenty Stage One Gastrea. She jumped back right before she was hit by a Bear Stage Three Gastrea. She shirt was slightly torn.

"Oh, that!" She yelled, angry. That was her favorite shirt, after all.

" **Secret Iai Style:** " She yelled, ready to draw her blade. However, I quickly stopped her.

"It's just a Stage Three! Save your energy for a Stage Four!"

She let go of the sword. "Fine." She then leaped forward, and punched the Bear Gastrea in the chest, blowing a hole right through it. She then drew and cut its head off.

Jumping back, she started to dodge and weave through the attacks of several Gastrea.

"Kayo!" She yelled. Kayo responded by shooting the approaching Gastrea.

Kayo's aim was really good. She aims for the Gastrea's vitals, such as its head with its eyes, or its chest, where its heart is. She aimed to kill efficiently, after all.

With her quick mind, she aimed faster than we could draw, though in the end, we were faster, since bullets traveled at a set speed.

"Behind you!" I warned to Kayo, and she jumped to the side. I ran forward, and cut down a Stage Two Bee that had tried to ram Kayo from behind with its stinger.

"Thank you." She thanked, getting up.

I looked around the clearing. The Gastrea was clearing up, at the sun was slowly coming up from the horizon. Looking left and right, I decided on a course of action.

"Luna! Kayo! Middle of the clearing with me! Form a triangle!"

The two responded quickly to my orders and we formed a triangle.

"Luna. We're going to continuously use Dragon Reign. Not your version of it; but mine. So keep your speed to the same as me. We're going to form a kind of barrier around us. Kayo, save your bullets when we attack. When we finish and go to sheathe, shoot any approaching Gastrea. Can you do this?"

"Of course." She responded instantly, cocking her gun.

"Luna?"

"I can do this!" She said with a bright smile.

"Then..." I sheathed and drew at the same time as Luna. " **Iai Dual Style: Dragon Reign!** "

In a combined attack, we slashed ten times each, for a total of twenty, killing ten each, for a total of twenty.

In the slashes, we formed a sort of barrier that kept the Gastrea out completely. If it was raining, then the rain drops wouldn't be able to land on us or on the ground underneath us.

When we finished our actions, Kayo shot at the nearest Gastrea.

The Gastrea were stupid; case-in point, they kept charging us even when they saw us attacking in all directions. Like dumb, mindless animals, they fell to our blades, their blue blood flying in every direction.

It was ten minutes later that I fell to my knees, exhausted from the continuous action. Most of the Gastrea lay dead, but there was still some alive. When I stopped attacking, Luna stopped out of concern.

Kayo noticed this quickly, and proceeded to shoot the remaining Gastrea in the head.

"Are you okay?" Kayo asked as she fired some more bullets.

"Yeah..." I was breathing heavily. I was almost out of stamina, and yet, the Gastrea continued to appear, though they were much smaller in number now. The sun was in the sky, though just barely. It was probably around five in the morning.

"Watch out!" Kayo said and pushed me out of the way. A Gator Gastrea had came out of nowhere, and nearly closed its mouth on me. However, Kayo pushed me out of the way. Luna blinked in surprise. She didn't notice the Gastrea when she was looking at me; it attacked too high for her to see, and she wasn't paying enough attention. She started to reach for her sword, but it would be too late.

However, a man never left his debt unpaid. Using the rest of my energy, I violently threw my sword into the side of the Gastrea's head, even as I hit the ground hard. The Gastrea wasn't killed, but its teeth missed Kayo. Luna responded instantly and cut down the Gastrea.

She then stood back up and at attention, moving towards me to better protect me as I laid against the ground. Kayo grabbed my sword and quickly moved over to me.

I couldn't feel my limbs anymore... I was seriously out of energy.

"I'm sorry." Kayo said. "That you pushed yourself so much..." She continued when she saw my expression.

"Ah, think nothing of it. It was only natural, to protect one as cute as you..." She blinked.

She then moved me over to lying on my stomach and stared at my back.

"When did..."

"Oh, this? It was when we had sheathed our blade and you opened fire on the Gastrea... the, uh, third time? A small Gastrea, a Rabbit I believe, had attacked you from behind, so I got in the way. It bit me in the back, but I quickly cut it down." I laughed dryly. "Of course, it isn't so severe to cause me to turn into a Gastrea; not much of its fluids got into me, of course."

"Why..." She said, shaking at her shoulders. "Why did you protect me?"

"I can't leave a cute-"

"You already said that!" She yelled. "I want to know _why_ you protected me, not some excuse!" I stared up at the sky. Luna had moved away to fight a Stage Four Gastrea, and there wasn't any Gastrea close to us.

"It's because..." I said, but stopped. I took a moment to think if I really wanted to say it, but decided to continue. "I was going to have a little sister. And... at the time... she would've turned ten today."

Yes. Today marked the tenth year that I killed my parents. The same day that my little sister would've been born. The same day as my birthday.

Yesterday we began the mission to kill Kagetane Hiruko. The very next day, early in the morning, I was fighting to the death. It was also my birthday. The day that celebrated my parent's death... the day my sister would've been born on, my own birthday.

* * *

 **There we have it!**

 **So, what was changed the most? Well, obviously, Dolphin-Chan surviving! Why would I let her die? That is just messed up! I saw her die once in the anime, why would I want to see it again? It seriously made me nearly cry, seeing such a cute girl ask Satomi shoot her in the head so she could die as a human instead a Gastrea... I wanted her to live and join Satomi and his adventures doing stuff! Or something.**

 **I mean, spoiler alert, with Shougen dead, she would've lost her Promoter... So yeah :/**

 **So, a lot of information about Sol has been dropped.**

 **I'll let you sort it out on your own, so I'd love to see what you think is going to happen based on what I put and what you _think_ it means. It will be funny. Probably.**

 **Anyway, I'm going to end it now, so... if you enjoyed, by all means follow and or favorite. Leave a review if you wish.**

 **And bye, have a beautiful day or night!**


	4. Flood

Hey everyone, it's everyone's favorite bastard! How are you all doing? I'm doing great - as great as someone whose house was flooded! Anyway, no updates for a long time probably! I will probably need a new computer, my tablet is horrible to write with! So, see ya another day, this has been ZeXal, and I am out!


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